THE HOMECOMING – Chapter 1

Hi this is foz. Thanks for all the reviews, favorites and follows for the first story in this series. You humble me and all those reviews make we want to continue writing. The warnings in the previous story "The Adventure" applies here. There may be mild CP in this fic, my stories write themselves, I am just the conduit. After all, boys will be boys, especially these boys.

I usually wait until I have a story completely written before I start to post. I've learned my lesson about unfinished stories. I still have some that need to be finished, but my muse wanders away and sometimes I can't get it back. I am still working on this one, but I have the next chapter almost finished, so I can at least post this one. BTW – I hope all of you are healthy and sheltering in. Writing helps me from going stir crazy. I hope that you enjoy reading this as much as I've enjoyed writing it.

Chapter 1

At the end of "The Adventure" –

Sophia grabbed JD's hand, "home" she thought, that sure sounds nice.

Buck looked at JD and Sophia. Sophia was filthy, probably hadn't had a bath in a month of Sundays. She needed some clothes. The rags she was wearing were about to fall apart. He didn't even think they were worth saving, "We need to go get her a pony and she needs some clothes. She can't be wearing those rags to ride in. They're gonna fall apart any minute." He looked at JD and handed him $5, "Go find her some clothes and I'll meet you at the livery, I'm gonna ask at the livery where we can get her a pony."

JD nodded, "OK, come on Sophia." JD said heading for the door.

"JD," Buck stopped him.

"Yeah?"

"You both best be calling me Pa while were in town. Just in case that Mr. Simpson is somewhere around. I don't want him to get suspicious."

JD smirked. This was going to be fun. He couldn't wait to pester the hell out of Buck. "Sure Pa," JD smirked.

Buck pointed to the door, "Get."

"Sure Pa," JD grinned. Buck playfully swatted at his backside and missed, on purpose.

Buck was formulating the next couple of hours. He figured that he'd get Sophia bathed after they got the pony and then they could have supper and get a good night's sleep, then head for home. After the kids headed out, he headed to talk to Chris. He knocked on the door and could hear Vin talking. Well, Chris hadn't killed him yet, that was a good sign. Vin answered the door, "Heh Buck."

"Heh Vin."

"Need something, Buck?" Chris asked.

"Yeah, wanted to talk to you about our plans to head home."

"Where are JD and Sophia?" asked Chris.

"Sent them to find her some clothes, those rags she's got on are going to fall apart."

Chris nodded, "Yeah, noticed that."

Vin just stood there watching and listening. Buck didn't seem to be upset with him, Buck seemed to be focused on other things. Phew, he thought, dodged that bullet. Vin started to head out the door and leave the two older men to discuss the plan to go home. Vin sure could use a drink. He was headed to the saloon.

"Where you headed?" asked Chris.

"Saloon." Vin stated.

"I'll join you in a few minutes." Chris said.

Vin nodded.

Just as Vin turned, Buck stopped him, "Vin."

Vin turned back, "Buck?"

"Don't think I'm done with ya about all this foolishness."

Damn, he hadn't really dodged the bullet. Vin just nodded and closed the door.

Buck turned around grinning, "Gonna give that boy somethin' to worry about for a bit."

Chris looked at his friend chuckling, "Gonna keep him guessing?"

"For a bit," Buck said nodding his head.

"So, what's the plan?" asked Chris.

Buck explained him the plan. "So, I'd thought I'd go over the livery to get her a pony, get her cleaned up, then we could have supper and hit the hay and then leave in the morning."

Chris nodded, "Sounds good, see ya at supper."

Buck nodded. "See ya at supper."

Chris headed over to the saloon. He had listened to Vin's story. Even though the boys handled themselves fine on the trip and seemed like Vin did a good job watching out for JD, he was still mad that Vin lied to him. The trip could have been dangerous, even though it wasn't. Chris sighed. He wasn't sure he had a right to still be mad. He could be mad as Vin's boss. He just didn't know if he had a right to mad at him because he felt like an older brother or a father. He supposed he wasn't really old enough to be his father, pretty damn close though. Vin claimed to be 25, Chris snorted, he couldn't be a day over 20, at lease Chris didn't think he was. Chris was just gonna have to think on it some more.

"Cowboy," Vin greeted as Chris entered the bar.

"Don't call me cowboy, Tanner," Chris growled.

Vin saluted, "Sir, yes sir."

Chris rolled his eyes, "Brat."

Vin chuckled. "Wanna beer, old man?"

"Old man, my ass!" Chris said as he swatted at Vin with his hat.

Vin grinned as he went to grab a beer for Chris.

Buck arrived at the livery. JD and Sophia hadn't made it to the livery yet. He approached the livery owner, "Need to buy a pony for my daughter."

Livery owner nodded, "Isiah Marks," he said putting his hand out.

Buck accepted his hand, "Buck Wilmington."

"Pony, not a horse?"

"She's only 8 and she's not that big."

"Does she have a saddle?"

Buck shook his head, "She don't have nothin'. Just got her off the orphan train. Been looking for her a long time."

Isiah nodded his head in sympathy. "Have a couple of good ponies for a little girl. Where is she? Don't you want to try her out on them?"

Buck nodded, "My son is taking her to the mercantile to get her some stuff. All she's got is the clothes on her back and they ain't in too good of shape. They'll be over here directly."

Isiah looked at Buck, "The horses are in the corral in the back."

Buck nodded and followed Isiah to the back. Buck looked over the ponies. He didn't think that either one would work. They had a three day ride across Red Salt Flats. He probably needed to get her a gentle horse. "Uh, Isiah, I probably need a horse instead of one of these ponies. We got a hard three day ride home."

Isiah nodded. "Where you hail from?"

"Four Corners."

"Oh. You headed across Red Salt Flats?"

"Yep."

"Yeah, you probably need a horse. Can she ride?"

"Not sure."

Isiah looked at him skeptically, "You don't know if she can ride?"

Buck sighed, "I didn't even know I had a daughter until a few days ago. Her ma never told me."

"Oh."

Buck looked up to see JD and Sophia head toward him. "Heh Pa," greeted JD.

"Hi son, how'd it go?"

JD rolled his eyes, "I ain't ever taking that girl shopping again. She cain't ever make up her mind. The nice lady at the mercantile just picked it out once she figured out what size Sophia was," said JD exasperated.

Buck chuckled. "You got any change?"

"Yes sir, here you go," said JD digging the change out of his pocket.

Buck pocketed the change still chuckling. They already sounded like a little family. He turned to Sophia, "You know how to ride?"

Sophia nodded.

"You need to pick out a horse. Mr. Marks has some horses to show you. Then I want you ride a little for me."

Sophia nodded.

Isiah held his hand for Sophia. She shrunk back against JD. She didn't trust anyone. Buck walked over to her and picked her up and put her on his hip, "Come on, let's go see what Mr. Marks has."

Sophia nodded into Buck's shoulder. He put her down when he reached the corral. Sophia walked inside the corral, completely fearless. Isiah tried to stop her, "She could get hurt, some of the horses are mean."

JD put his hand on Isiah's arm, "Mr. Marks, there was a stable where we grew up. Sophia's been around horses all her life. She has a way with them."

Buck watched her with admiration, she seemed so skittish around people, but not with horses. He could kind of understand that. Sometimes he liked his horse more than some people he knew, excluding the fairer sex. He amended that in his mind, most of the fairer sex, there were some women he couldn't stand, like Ezra's ma.

Sophia stopped by a paint pony. She stroked it's nose. The pony nibbled her hair. She giggled. Buck has never heard her laugh, it sure was cute. Buck jutted his chin toward Sophia and the paint. "How's that one?"

"I'm not sure," Isiah said scratching his head. "Never seen anything like it."

"Never seen what?" asked Buck.

"She's the first person that paint let get near her."

Buck's eyebrows went up to her hairline. "Told ya," JD said smugly.

"Don't get sassy boy," Buck said smiling as he gave JD's shoulder a little bump.

JD stumbled a bit, "But she is good, look at her," he said proudly.

Sophia?" called Buck.

Sophia looked up, she could've stood there all day petting that paint. "Yes sir?"

"That the one?"

Sophia nodded her head. She couldn't believe that she got to pick her own pony. She couldn't believe her good fortune. She started to wonder if she was in a dream. Maybe this wasn't real at all. Then the pony grabbed her hair and pulled. Well this definitely was not a dream. "Ow," she said looking at the pony. "That's naughty, stop it." The pony snorted and nodded her head as if she understood Sophia.

Buck laughed, "How much?"

"That'd be $25 for the pony and the saddle. You sure you want that pony and not a horse."

Buck reached for his wallet, "Yep, that's the one she wants. Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, are sure you said $25 for both?"

Isiah coughed, "Yeah, I've been trying to get rid of that paint for a month, nobody could get near her. Figured you're kind of doing me a favor."

Buck smiled, he didn't believe the man for a minute. "Well, I thank you." He said as he handed the money over.

"Sophia, come on over here. I guess I don't need you to show me you can ride."

Sophia nodded. She brought the pony with her. She didn't even need a halter. The pony just followed her. Isiah was shaking his head in wonderment. Sophia tugged on Isiah's hand. "Sir, what's her name?"

Isiah rubbed his chin, "I don't rightly know. The man who sold her to me never said."

Sophia looked at Buck. She had the biggest green eyes ever. He was going to get suckered by those eyes, he just knew it. "Can I name her?"

"She's your horse, sure."

"Achora," said Sophia.

JD smiled. He figured she would pick something Gaelic. Their ma used to talk to them in Gaelic. Buck looked at JD, "Achora?"

"My friend, in Gaelic. It's what they talk in Ireland." said JD.

Buck nodded his head, seemed a good name to him. "OK, now that we got that settled, let's get you cleaned up."

Sophia wrinkled her nose, she didn't like taking baths, she wasn't sure what he meant. She only had to take a bath once a month at the orphanage. That was the only good thing about the orphanage. "What'd you mean?" she asked suspiciously.

"Well little girl, ya need a bath before you put on them clean clothes."

"But I don't want to take a bath," whined Sophia.

Buck simply picked her up, "Don't matter. Ya need one." Buck shook his head. What was it with children not wanting to take baths. He still had to cajole JD into it sometimes and JD was seventeen. You would think that by that age, they wouldn't fight about it so much. But then again, this was JD. JD probably just fought it to get under Buck's skin.

Sophia was struggling in Buck's arms. Buck was getting tired, he really didn't want to fight with her. He didn't want to discipline her either. After all, she'd only known him a couple of hours. "Settle down, we're going back to the hotel and you're gonna take a bath without fighting me or you won't be a very happy little girl." Buck said sternly.

JD was standing behind her, making gestures of slitting his throat. "Cut it out," he mouthed.

Sophia settled down and let Buck carry her back to the hotel. JD breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't want Buck swatting her. She was usually the best behaved kid in the world. He didn't know what had gotten into her. He hoped she hadn't changed any in the year she'd been at the orphanage. He hoped that she was just tired.

The three reached the hotel, "Go tell the clerk we need a tub of water," Buck ordered JD.

"Sure, Pa," said JD.

Buck smiled to himself. He kind of liked being called Pa.

The clerk arrived in the room. He set up the tub with a screen and hot water. Buck turned to Sophia, "Do you need help?"

Sophia shook her head, "No, I can do it," she said it quietly. She was embarrassed about the little fit.

Buck grabbed her chin gently. "Sophia I know you're tired. I know this is all new and hard. But I need you to mind when I tell you something. Arguing with me ain't gonna get you nothing but a sore bottom. You understand?"

She nodded with tears in her eyes.

Buck drew her in for a hug. "I love ya, don't ever forget that." Buck surprised himself. That just popped out. How could he love her, he'd only known her for a few hours. She wormed her way into his heart the moment he laid eyes on her.

Sophia nodded into his stomach.

"Go on, get cleaned up," Buck said pushing her toward the tub.

"OK."

"Don't forget to wash your hair." He reminded her as he lay down on the bed. God he was tired. What an emotional few days. He sure could use a drink. JD looked at him concerned.

"You ok, Buck?"

"Yeah, bud, just tired."

JD knew he was in so much trouble. He was sure that Buck hadn't forgotten. "Uh, Buck.."

"Yeah JD, what is it?"

"Um, about me taking off…"JD started to say.

Buck held up his hand to stop JD, "I ain't ready to talk about it now. I'm tired. We're not gonna talk about it 'til we get home."

"But,…" JD started.

Buck held up his hand again, "Did ya not understand what I just said? We'll talk about it at home."

"But.."

"There ain't no buts, but your own if you don't quit pestering me."

"OK," said JD looking down. Whoever came up with the idea that kids should wait for a punishment was an evil bastard.

Buck sat up, "I'm gonna go over to the saloon."

JD jumped up.

Buck shook his head, "Naw, you ain't going."

"Why not? I'm old enough!" demanded JD.

"It don't have anything to do with you being old enough, it has to do with we can't leave Sophia here by herself. Just help her get ready and then come find me so we can go get supper."

"Oh, ok. Buck, can we go to Sheila's for supper. Me and Vin went last night and they have ice cream!" JD said excitedly.

Buck chuckled, funny how ice cream makes the world better. "Sure, JD."

Buck made his way over to the saloon to find Vin and Chris. He ambled up to their table and took a seat. One of the saloon girls came by as he sat down. "Need a beer darlin'," he smiled at the girl. Boy she was pretty, if he didn't have two kids to watch, he'd be flirting with her hoping for a little more than flirting. He sighed. That part of his life might have to change some. He managed to hide it from JD, he kept his dalliances to when JD was out on patrol. Maybe he'd get one of the others to watch Sophia, when the opportunity presented itself. He sighed again, nothing to worry about now. He had more important things to worry about, like where was Sophia going to sleep and what about school? There was no school in Four Corners, the parents in Four Corners home schooled. JD was past the age of needing much schooling, even though Josiah insisted that the boys read for an hour each day to keep their reading sharp. Buck was staring into the beer, the pretty girl brought him.

Chris gave his friend a concerned look, "Everything ok?"

Buck smiled at Chris, "Wasn't planning to become a Pa, yet."

Chris chuckled, "Yeah, it can sneak up on you. No planning is going to help. Watcha ya worried about? You got me and all the boys to help you."

Buck looked at Chris sideways, "Yeah, I just don't want to screw it up. I mean a girl? Boys I can deal with, but I don't know what to do with a little girl."

"You got Ms. Nettie," Vin volunteered. "I bet she'd be happy to help with Sophia. She'll be wanting to dress her up and such. Ya know she tries that with Casey, but Casey ain't having none of it."

"You also got Ms. Whitaker and Mary, I wouldn't worry too much Buck. There's plenty of folks to help out. You don't have to go it by yourself." Chris added.

"Don't forget about Inez. She acts like a mama to the younger boys," Vin said.

Chris snorted softly, "Yeah, the 'younger' boys," he said under his breath.

Vin didn't quite catch that, but Buck sure did. He figured Chris was referring to the fact that Vin didn't consider himself one of the younger boys. Buck smiled to himself, Vin was one of the younger boys. He claimed to be 25, but Buck didn't believe him. He was fairly certain Vin wasn't anywhere near the age he claimed to be. Buck smiled, that will be the day when Chris figures it out. Vin just might have himself a guardian.

"Watch ya smiling at?" asked Vin.

"Oh nothing," Buck said quickly. "I was just picturing the faces of Mary, Ms. Nettie and Inez. They're gonna be tickled," Buck lied smoothly.

Vin nodded in agreement.

"Ya know, I'm thinking about school and where's she gonna sleep. I wonder if I need to go find me some kind of little house or somethin'." Buck pondered, thinking out loud.

Chris shook his head, "I don't think that's a good idea."

Buck looked up surprised, "Why not?" he demanded.

Chris sighed. Sometimes Buck could be such a pig-headed mule. He never could take any kind of criticism from Chris. Chris supposed it had to do with the fact Chris kind of brought him up from the time he was 15 and Buck was a man now. He probably felt like Chris was trying to tell him what to do. "I ain't trying to tell you what to do."

"Then what are you saying?" asked Buck pointedly.

"You still gonna be a peace keeper?" asked Chris.

"'Course."

"Well if you stay at the boarding house, someone will be there all the time. Even if we all have to ride out for something, Ms. Whitaker would be there to watch out for her." Chris tried to explain patiently.

"There ain't no empty rooms at the boarding house," Buck pointed out.

"You could put her in with JD for the time being. We'll figure something out." Chris offered. He was wondering if he could convince Ezra to move into the church with Josiah. That would make Josiah exceedingly happy. If would make Ezra exceedingly unhappy. Probably would make him downright miserable having Josiah watching his every move. That would sure keep him out of trouble or in less trouble.

"I could move back into my wagon," offered Vin.

Chris about choked on his beer, "No!"

Vin looked up startled. What right did Chris have to tell him where he should live? After all, he was almost 20, um 25 wasn't he. "Did for a long time afore I met you," Vin spit out.

Chris looked at Vin, his eyes narrowing dangerously. "Yeah, so you keep saying. We'll talk about it when we get home."

Vin wasn't sure what he saw in Chris' eyes. He didn't like it. Why did that comment get Chris so riled up? Oh no, had Chris figured out how old he was, is that why he wanted to keep him close? Vin just looked into his beer. "Fine," he huffed.

Wanting to dispel the situation, Buck plowed on with his concerns, "You know, I got another worry…."

While Buck was down at the saloon with Chris and Vin, JD was lying on the bed while Sophia was taking a bath. "Ow!" she yelled. JD jumped off the bed, he was almost asleep when Sophia yelped.

He ran behind the screen, "What's wrong," has asked worriedly.

"I got soap in my eyes," Sophia huffed. "I hate talking a bath, I always get soap in my eyes.

JD took one look at his little sister and burst out laughing.. Her hair was sticking out all over the place, like one of those pictures in the book of Greek stories Josiah had let him read. What was the name of that story? Oh yeah, some about a lady with snakes for hair, Medusa.

"It's not funny, see if you like getting soap in your eyes," Sophia said tearing up.

"Aw, I'm sorry Sophia," JD apologized quickly. "I didn't mean to laugh, you just reminded me of Medusa."

"Who?"

"It's a lady with snakes for hair."

"There's a lady that has snakes for hair?" Sophia asked as her eyes got wide.

JD chuckled, "Naw, it's just a story in a book that Josiah let me read."

"Who's Josiah?"

"He's a preacher and one of the peace keepers and Ezra's guardian?"

"Who's Ezra?"

"Another peace keeper."

"How come he has a guardian and how can you be a preacher and a peace keeper?"

"Cuz he ain't as old as he says he is."

Sophia was totally confused.

JD was getting hungry, he wanted to go find Buck and go eat supper. "Heh, how about if I tell you the story of the lady with the snakes for hair, while I help you get all that soap out of your hair."

Sophia readily agreed. Her skin was starting to wrinkle from being in the tub so long. It's just that her hair was so long, it took a long time to get all the soap out. Plus her hair was thick and curly, just like JD's. "OK, I always have trouble getting the soap out. Aileen used to help me. Oh no, what about Aileen?" Sophia asked.

Now it was JD's turn for questions. "Who's Aileen?" he asked as he was about to pour a bucket of water over Sophia's head. "Cover your eyes," he cautioned.

"JD," Sophia shouted, "that's cold."

"Sorry," he apologized. "But we gotta get that soap out of your hair and Buck's waiting for us to eat supper. So come on."

"Ok," Sophia grumbled.

"Who's Aileen?" JD asked again.

"She's my best friend," Sophia said earnestly.

JD rolled his eyes, getting something out of Sophia was like pulling teeth. He had no idea, he was exactly the same way, if that wasn't the pot calling the kettle black. "No, I meant why did you say 'oh no'."

"Oh, Aileen said that as soon as I was taken care of, she was going to do something for herself."

"What'd ya mean?"

Sophia shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know, she just said she had a plan. JD, if she runs away from the train and the find her…."Sophia shuddered both from the cold water and the idea of what might happen to Aileen.

JD noticed the shiver, he handed Sophia a towel. "I think I got all the soap out of your hair. Why don't you dry off and get dressed." Sophia stood up accepting the towel from JD. JD lifted her out of the tub and put her on the floor.

"You know, I can't get out by myself," Sophia said as she wrapped the towel around herself, her mind wandered off of Aileen.

JD smiled, "I know, it just kind of reminded me when you were little and I had to do it cuz mama was busy."

"I miss mama, JD," Sophia said quietly as she dried off.

JD got very melancholy for a minute, "Yeah, me too." He whispered. He quickly changed his mood, "Guess what? Me and Vin went to this restaurant last night and they had ice cream!"

"Ice cream?" Sophia asked excitedly.

JD nodded. He had laid all her clothes out on the bed. There was a nightdress, a pair of pants, a shirt, a hat, stockings, a plain yellow dress with flowers and girl's underthings. Sophia looked at the clothes. "JD, can I wear the pants?"

JD shook his head, "Naw, I don't think Buck wants you to be wearing pants except when you're riding or maybe doing chores."

Sophia looked mutinous. "But, I haven't worn pants since I went to the orphanage."

JD picked up the dress and handed it to Sophia. "Come on Sophia, you can ask Buck when we see him. Just put this on for now. When we leave tomorrow, I 'm sure Buck will let you."

Sophia just stood there with her arms crossed.

JD was getting annoyed, "Sophia, I'm hungry and I want ice cream. The longer you stand there, the longer you're going to have to wait to get ice cream."

Sophia's eyes lit up at the mention of ice cream, "Ok," she conceded. Ice cream won.

Grateful, JD buttoned her into the dress. He wished he'd thought to buy a brush for all that hair. Well that was going to have to wait. He wondered if he could find something to tie her hair back with. He shrugged. JD held out his hand for Sophia. Sophia grabbed her hand.

"You never told me the story of the lady with snakes in her hair." She said pouting.

JD ran his hand through his hair, "I tell you before you go to bed, ok?"

"Ok. JD?"

"What?" he asked exasperated. Boy little sisters were so annoying sometimes. It was all coming back to him, their life before the orphanage. He remembered thinking Sophia was such a pest. Then he thought about the orphan train and resolved to be a better big brother.

Sophia could tell she was getting on his last nerve. So she just kept quiet while they were walking over to the saloon. When they arrived at the saloon, JD stepped through the doors. The bartender looked up, "Hey, we don't allow no kids in here. Get out!"

"But our Pa's in here," JD argued.

"Don't care, get out!" demanded the bartender.

Buck stood up, "Heh no need to shout at them. They didn't know."

"What's it to you?" spat the bartender.

Buck rose to his full height. Chris and Vin stood up as well. The three could be pretty imposing when they felt the need. "I'm their Pa and I told them to come find me here." Buck said dangerously, his hand resting lightly on his gun.

Chris touched Buck's elbow lightly. Still keeping his eye on the bartender, Buck moved his eyes sideways to Chris. "Come on," said Chris.

Buck nodded. "No harm done, just don't want no one shouting at my youngins. See my daughter, she's shaking, you scared her."

The bartender turned to look at JD and Sophia. The little girl was shaking and pale trying to hide behind her brother. "Sorry, but it's a town ordinance and I don't want to pay no fines. Got to be at least 21.

Nobody noticed that Vin got wide-eyed for a moment and then found the floor a very interesting place to look. At least he thought no one noticed.

Buck held his hand to her, "Come here darlin', he didn't mean to scare you. Don't you look pretty." Sophia got out from behind JD and raced into Buck's arms, he picked her up and put her on his hip. "It's ok, Pa's got you," he said into her ear.

Buck headed out the door with Sophia, while Chris and Vin followed. "Guess what Uncle Chris, we're having ice cream for dinner!" Sophia said enthusiastically as Buck put her down. Fortunately the scare was short lived, she bounced back almost immediately after they stepped out of the saloon.

Buck smirked at the "Uncle Chris," he saw Chris' expression and almost fell out laughing. The boys just held their breath. Vin had to turn around to keep from laughing. JD didn't know where to look. He tried to look at Buck, but he could tell Buck was trying to keep from laughing, which made JD start laughing.

Sophia noticed Chris' expression. Uh oh, what had she done?

"Is that so?" asked Chris ignoring the other three.

"Yes sir," Sophia said looking at her shoes

Sophia looked so forlorn. Chris knelt down next to her and raised her chin to look at him. "I'd be proud if you were to call me Uncle Chris."

"Really?"

"Really," Chris said emphatically.

She grabbed his hand, "JD said the restaurant has ice cream and we get to have ice cream for supper."

JD was shocked, "I didn't say that, honest," he said looking over at Buck.

Buck chuckled, "I'm sure you didn't. Sophia, we'll have supper and if you're still hungry then you can have ice cream for dessert."

Sophia looked disappointed, she thought all she was going to have to eat was ice cream. "Oh, ok."

Buck laughed. He watched Sophia holding Chris' hand. She reached for Buck's hand, as the boys led the way to the restaurant. She was going to have them wrapped around her little finger in no time, in fact she already had Chris and Buck.

As they settled in at Sheila's, the waitress handed them menus. Sophia opened hers, there were so many good things on the menu, she didn't know what to get. All she'd had for the past year was porridge, porridge three times a day. She hated porridge. Buck watched the troubled look on her face.

"Something wrong, Sophia?"

She shook her head, "I don't know what to get. It all looks so yummy. They only let us have porridge at the orphanage."

"You mean porridge for breakfast?" asked Buck.

"No, she means porridge period," Vin said angrily, the memories of being in an orphanage himself coming to the surface.

"Oh," Buck said softly. "That why you won't eat it when Ms. Whitaker fixes it for breakfast and why Nettie never fixes it when you're there?"

Vin nodded his head. Chris put his hand on Vin's arm as if to calm him down and remind him where he was now and who he was with. Vin let out a frustrated sigh. "Ya better not let her get anything too heavy, her stomach ain't used to it. That's what Nathan'd tell ya. When I came out of the orphanage, when I went to the Indians, they fed me a lot of first cuz I was so skinny. I spent a week throwing up."

Chris held up his hands, "We don't need the details Vin. But Buck, I'm sure that Vin is right. Nathan'd tell you to go easy with her the first few days."

Buck nodded. Sophia looked horrified, she was about to have real food for the first time in over a year and they weren't gonna let her have any?

Buck looked at her, "Sophia try and find something light, so you won't hurt your belly," advised Buck.

Sophia nodded miserably. She didn't know what that meant. Just then, the waitress showed up, "Ya'll ready?"

Everyone nodded their head except Sophia. As they placed their orders, the waitress noticed that the little girl seemed upset. "Do you know what you want, honey?" she asked gently.

Sophia shook her head. "She probably don't know what light means, Pa," volunteered JD.

Buck looked at Sophia, "Is that it?"

She nodded her head, the tears starting to roll down her cheeks.

Buck looked at the waitress, "She's been in an orphanage for a while, we finally just found her. She's been only eating porridge for a while. I'm afraid if she eats something heavy, she might get a belly ache." Buck explained.

"Oh, I see. Honey, how about I bring you some mashed potatoes and some roasted chicken?"

Sophia nodded, "Papa, can I have ice cream?"

Buck almost choked at being called Papa. Now it was Chris' turn to laugh. Only he didn't laugh, he just had a shit eating grin on his face. "After you finish supper, if you're still hungry." Buck agreed.

While they were waiting, Sophia looked at Vin. "Vin, who's Nathan?"

Vin looked at JD, he guessed JD hadn't explained this little family to Sophia yet. "Nathan's our doctor and a peace keeper, he's also a black man."

"Oh, I didn't know a black man could be a doctor."

"He ain't actually a doctor, he's more like a medicine man."

"Like an Indian?" Sophia said in awe.

Vin nodded.

"We call him a healer," supplied Chris. He didn't want Sophia going around calling him a medicine man.

Sophia just nodded her head. There were a lot of peace keepers. She wasn't sure she could keep it all straight. Fortunately, she didn't have to think about it too hard, the waitress arrived with the food.

"So, how many peace keepers are there?" she asked around a forkful of mashed potatoes.

"Seven, and don't talk with your mouth full," Buck admonished waiving his fork at her.

"Yes sir, sorry." Sophia promised as she swallowed her food.

As dinner progressed, Sophia was getting more and more sleepy. It had been a whirlwind of a day. The waitress came over, "About ready for that ice cream?"

Sophia turned those big green eyes on Buck, "Please papa?"

Buck looked at her plate, she'd only eaten about ¼ of what was on her plate, but he figured it was enough. "Sure," he agreed.

Chris kicked him under the table, Buck startled and looked at his friend. "Softy," Chris mouthed grinning.

"Shut up," Buck murmured.

Chris just grinned even wider.

The rest of the group was talking while JD, Vin and Sophia were finishing their ice cream. As dinner came to a close, JD nudged Buck. He pointed to his sister, she was asleep in her chair. "You gonna pick her up, Papa?" JD teased.

Buck swatted JD on the arm and grinned, "You bet," he said as he reached down and scooped her up.

The group made it over to the hotel. Vin and Chris headed to their room. Buck and JD made their way to their room. JD opened the door for Buck and Buck just stood there. He had forgotten that there were only two beds. JD looked and Buck and figured out what the problem was pretty quick. "Buck, she can just sleep with me, she used to crawl in bed with me all the time," JD whispered.

Buck nodded as he laid her down on JD's bed and got her into her nightdress. JD and Buck quickly undressed and got into bed. Buck kept his pants on the bed just in case he needed them. He felt kind of funny having a little girl in the room.

The next morning, Sophia woke up before Buck and JD. She was used to getting up at the crack of dawn at the orphanage. She woke up thinking about Aileen. She figured she could just go find Aileen to say goodbye or at least find out what Aileen was going to do. She wiggled her way out from JD's arm. He had slung it over her while she was sleeping. She very quietly washed her face and hands in the wash bowl and got herself dressed. She tip-toed past the sleeping Buck and opened the door to the room. She very quietly closed the door and heaved a sigh of relief.

Her tummy growled. She was hungry. She raced down the stairs to the dining room. She saw platters of eggs, biscuits and bacon sitting on a sideboard in the restaurant. Sophia's mouth was watering. She wasn't sure what to do because she didn't have any money. She didn't want to steal, that was naughty. One of the waitresses noticed her and walked over to where Sophia was standing. "Looking for breakfast?" she asked kindly.

"Yes ma'am," Sophia said looking hungrily at the food.

The waitress noticed the hungry look in Sophia's eyes. "Well go on in and get yourself a plate."

Sophia shook her head, "I only have 2 cents," she said showing the waitress her 2 cents. She really wanted to give Aileen that money.

The waitress nodded, "I see. But breakfast comes with the room, so as long as you have a room at the hotel, it's fine."

Sophia smiled really big, "For real?"

The waitress nodded smiling, "Just tell me your room number."

Sophia looked distraught, "I can't remember. It's on the second floor, my papa is Buck Wilmington. He's real tall, has dark hair. He and my brother JD are up there sleeping."

"It's ok, you just go on and eat, I'll figure out the room number."

Sophia breathed a sigh of relief, "Yes ma'am."

Sophia quickly got some breakfast. She started to load her plate down with all the good looking things she saw on the sideboard. Then she remembered about how Vin talked about throwing up for a whole week. She decided to just take a tiny bit of eggs, 1 biscuit and 1 piece of bacon. Sophia finished her breakfast and ran out of the hotel. She needed to make it to the orphan train to see Aileen before the train pulled out to go to another stop. She hurried to the train tracks. She could hear the trains and just followed the sound.

When she arrived at the train, it looked like they were loading up to go. She heard the conductor shout out a 15 minute warning. She quickly climbed up the train stairs and headed to the car she shared with Aileen and 15 other girls. She ran up to the seats that she shared with Aileen. All the other girls seemed to be thee but Aileen. Rachel, the girl that sat in front of her the whole trip was surprised to see her.

"Sophia, what are doing here? I thought your brother came for you?"

Sophia looked at Rachel, "He did, I just wanted to say "Bye" to Aileen. Where is she?" Sophia said breathlessly.

Rachel shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, I haven't seen her since you found your brother. I thought she went with you."

Sophia shook her head sadly, "No, she wasn't with me."

"Then I don't know," said Rachel.

"Ok," said Sophia as she headed for the train exit. As she descended the steps, the railroad conductor grabbed her arm. "Get back on that train. Heh, Mr. Simpson, I caught this one trying to get away." He said shaking Sophia.

Mr. Simpson looked down his nose at her, "Sophia, what are you doing? Why aren't you with your father?"

"Um…" Sophia didn't know what to say, she didn't want Mr. Simpson to realize Aileen wasn't on the train. They had been on the last car, Mr. Simpson only randomly checked the car, so either he hadn't checked or he just didn't notice.

"Well," he demanded.

"I thought I lost my barrette on the train," she said quickly.

"Humph, well go on." He said pointing away from the train.

Sophia turned and ran toward the train office. She stood there sadly and watched the train pull out. She wondered if she was ever going to see Aileen again. As she started to walk back toward the hotel, she heard her name being called. She looked around to see Aileen with a big grin on her face. "Aileen," she shouted as she ran, throwing herself into the older girl.

"Ooph," said Aileen as Sophia plowed into her.

"Aileen, I wanted to say goodbye."

Aileen held Sophia's hand, "I'm glad you did, but your brother is probably missing you. You probably need to get back to the hotel."

Sophia shook her head, "Naw, they're sleeping," Sophia said rolling her eyes.

"Who's they?" asked Aileen curiously.

"Oh, JD's guardian Buck. Only now he's gonna be my papa, um sort of I think. I'm not really sure," Sophia faltered.

Aileen nodded, not really understanding. The girls were practically standing in the middle of the street, when Sophia heard, "Sophia Claire Dunne, you best get your behind over here!"

Sophia gulped. She wasn't sure, but it sure sounded like Buck. A very angry Buck. She froze in place. Aileen looked at her, "Who's that?"

"Um. I think it's Buck."

"So, I guess he's not asleep?"

"No, I guess not," said Sophia shaking her head.

Buck was out of his mind with worry. He'd woken up before JD and looked over to the kid's bed and saw only JD. He got out of bed and shook JD, "JD, JD, where's Sophia?"

Bleary eyed and not quite awake, JD opened one eye. "Don't know," he mumbled.

"Well let's get dressed and go find her," said Buck pulling a sleepy JD out of bed. As JD was putting his shirt on, he looked at Buck. "Ya know, she could just be in the necessary."

"Maybe, if she ain't in there, go get Chris and Vin, we need to find her," Buck barked.

JD jumped. "Don't get mad at me, I didn't do nuthin'" JD mumbled.

Buck's eyes were burning a hole in JD, "You say somethin'?"

Wisely JD backed down, "No sir."

"Didn't think so. Let's get going."

JD pulled his boots on and followed Buck out their room. They stopped by the hotel water closet and no one was in there. Buck turned to JD, "Go get Vin and Chris, Room 324, I'm gonna check the dining room." JD nodded and went to roust Chris and Vin.

JD was knocking on Chris and Vin's door, when he heard Chris tell him to come in. JD stepped in the room. "What's wrong JD?" asked Chris.

"Sophia's missing," said JD.

"What?" bellowed Chris.

"She wasn't in bed, when me and Buck got up."

"We'll be right down," said Chris pulling on his pants. Vin was already packing up the room, flinging clothes into saddle bags. JD nodded and turned to meet Buck in the dining room.

When he walked into the dining room, Buck was talking to a waitress. Boy was she pretty thought JD. He walked over and heard Buck ask, "So she was here? How long ago? Did she say where she was going?"

Buck turned to JD, "She was here about 30 minutes ago, she couldn't of gotten far." Chris and Vin heard Buck tell JD that Sophia couldn't have gotten far. Buck turned to Chris, Vin and JD, "Let's go," he grunted.

They all went in different directions. Buck couldn't believe his eyes, not 5 minutes of looking, he spotted her hugging a taller girl with red hair. "Sophia Claire Dunne, you best get your behind over here," he bellowed. Sophia stood there with Aileen, frozen.

Buck reached her in seconds. He grabbed her away from Aileen, turned her sideways and swatted her behind. "Don't you ever run off without telling me where you going ever again, you hear me?"

Sophia started to cry, Aileen just stood there with her mouth open. Buck looked at Sophia crying and melted instantly. He felt terrible, he never meant to swat her, she had just scared him so badly. He knelt down and grabbed her into a hug. "I'm sorry baby, Papa didn't mean to swat you, I was just so scared when I woke up and you were gone."

Aileen stood back and smiled. Sophia had landed in a good place with a good man. She could tell that he was really scared.

"Sorry," Sophia cried into his chest.

"I know," Buck said as he ran his hand down her back. "Please don't do that again, I don't think my heart can take it."

"I won't," Sophia promised.

Buck patted her back until she calmed down. By then, the others had joined him, all very relieved that Buck had found her so quickly. "Who's this?" Chris asked the tearful little girl.

Trying to dry her tears up, "Aileen," she managed to say.

"Aileen," greeted Chris.

"Sir," Aileen curtsied.

Chris smiled, she was a cute little thing. "Were you on the orphan train?"

Aileen startled, she didn't want to go back to the orphanage. She had big plans of going to San Francisco and becoming a singer. "Um yes sir, but I have a family now. I better get going before they worry."

Sophia looked are in awe, "Really, you have a family?"

Aileen smiled, "Yeah and I better get back," she said giving Sophia a hug.

"Will I ever get to see you again?" asked Sophia.

"I'll see you some day, just you wait and see," Aileen said smiling as she started to walk off.

"I'm going to live in Four Corners," called Sophia.

"Vin, take JD and Sophia over to the livery. I'm gonna run up to the room and get our stuff." Buck said as he stood watching Aileen walking away.

The kids starting walking toward the livery as Buck turned to Chris, "You believe her?"

"What?" asked Chris.

"She's got a family?"

"Nope, not for a minute," said Chris.

"Should we go after her?" asked Buck.

"Nope. I have a feeling that little lady can take care of herself."

Well there you have it. Aileen reappeared, only to disappear. She will come back into the story eventually, I'm just not sure when.