Chapter 2

SG-1 and Janet were walking the trail with Kid and his horse. As they walked Jack tried to get as much information out of the young man as possible after introducing everyone by first name.

Jack walked beside Kid and asked, "Where are you from, Kid?"

"Virginia." he replied. He looked at Jack's uniform and the patch. "What is SG-1?" he wondered.

"Name of your little club." he told him.

"Interesting…club ya got there." he mentioned. "That rifle. That's not like anything I've ever seen."

"It's new." he simply stated.

Teal'c soon came to attention as he heard horses up ahead. He gripped his rifle, "O'Neill." he called his attention. "Someone is coming." he warned.

Rounding the bend of the trail ahead were five more riders on horseback. Kid recognized his friends. He called, "Jimmy! Lou!" He waved to them. Included in the group was a tall blond haired man named Billy, half Indian teen named Buck and behind him was a bald young man who was mute called Ike. The five gave a sigh of relief seeing Kid alive but were rather concerned upon seeing the strangers dressed in green and holding strange weapons.

Jimmy dismounted the tan horse upon getting closer. He had long dark hair and sported a wide brim hate and a tan jacket over a black shirt and black trousers. He greeted, "You okay, Kid?" He looked suspiciously at the group found in uniform. "Who are your friends?" he asked Kid as he sized them up and down.

Daniel squinted for the face of the young man looked very familiar to him. He tried to place him as his memory went through every famous cowboy he could think of.

"This is Jack, Sam, Daniel, Janet and that colored fella is Teal'c. They saved my life. I was captured by Shoshone scouts. Katie was wounded by an arrow." he pointed to the wound on the horse.

Jimmy never took his eyes off the five strangers. He asked, "She gonna be okay, Kid?"

"Just needs some stitches." he informed.

Jack held out a hand to the leader, "Name's Jack O'Neill."

He shook his hand still judging the situation. "Jimmy. Jimmy Hickok."

Daniel suddenly gasped, "James Butler Hickok!"

Jimmy drew his attention to Daniel, "You heard of me?"

"Little bit." he nodded sucking in his breath.

"Can't always believe what ya read." he warned.

Jack stood wide-eyed, "You are Wild Bill Hickok?" For a moment Jack lost all sense of being tactical as he stood before one of his childhood heroes. Jack grew up in the 50's. Cowboys and Indians were all the rage in Hollywood. As a child he was bombarded with cowboy movies and series on television. Suddenly, he stood face-to-face with a legend from the past.

Jimmy wagged a finger, "Seriously! Don't believe everything you read in a dime novel."

The blonde haired boy named Billy spoke up, "Look at that, Jimmy. You got another one."

"Not funny, Cody." he rebutted.

Daniel gasped, "William Frederick Cody!"

The riders all came to attention for they wondered how the man with the glasses new Billy's full name.

Billy asked, "You know me?"

"Um…" Daniel looked to Jack who stood just as stunned. He had to think up a cover fast. "I'm Dr. Daniel Jackson and I um…work contract…for Russell Majors and Waddell." he lied.

Jimmy asked suspiciously, "What you here for?"

"Um…" he looked to Sam for help.

Sam indulged the tale, "We are here to um…inspect the trail." She winced for she understood it would sound rather silly.

Lou was still on horseback. She was much smaller than the rest of the riders and also wore glasses. She was dressed as a boy and sported a wide bring floppy hat. She asked, "Inspecting the trail for what? Indians!"

She winced, "Yeah…we will go with that." It was rather obvious to SG-1 and Janet that Lou was a girl.

Lou looked to Kid, "You okay, Kid?" she was obviously concerned for him more so than the boys.

He smiled, "I'm fine! They used those fancy guns to scare the scouts that ambushed me off. Never seen anything like it. Them their guns can fire three shots at once." He looked to Jack, "Show 'em."

The Colonel did not want to waste anymore ammunition. He declined, "Maybe later." He then addressed the riders before him. "We could use a place to crash if you got one. And, is there a town nearby or something?"

Jimmy cocked his head, "Wouldn't you know where Rock Creek is if you were inspecting the trail?"

"I would!" he had to agree. "Lost our map." He looked back at his team for support, "Right!"

Daniel figured he needed to come up with a good cover, a sound story and fast. Unlike Jack, he was not inundated with westerns as a child and saw the faces of the riders through a historical lens instead. He stepped forward, "We lost some of our equipment." he fibbed. "We're a special survey team. As I said, I'm Doctor Daniel Jackson. This is Colonel…" he winced wondering if he should not use ranks, "Jack O'Neill." He decided to omit any ranks for Sam and Janet. "The girls are Doctors Janet Frasier and Samantha Carter. And Teal'c is our security specialist. We are here to survey the land and the caves back in the valley."

The half Indian boy named Buck spoke up. "Those caves are forbidden. Shoshone land and no one is allowed into the caves. They say it's haunted."

Daniel assured, "It's not haunted."

"Shoshone will not let you there." Buck warned.

He nodded, "Right! So…where is Rock Creek?"

Jimmy offered, "We can show you. Can you ride Katie, Kid?"

"Not till she's healed up." he informed.

Lou held out an arm for Kid to grab and thus he climbed up on the horse behind her. He kept hold of the reigns for his horse in his hand.

Jimmy went back to his horse and mounted the animal. He looked to Jack, "I can give you a ride…Colonel."

"Great!" Jack grinned much like a child. He then managed to get on the horse with Jimmy's help.

Billy Cody offered an arm to Sam, "You need a ride, Samantha?" He figured quickly that Sam was female for she was too pretty to be a man and Lou taught him women could indeed wear pants.

"I appreciate this, Mr. Cody." she replied upon getting on the horse.

Ike then offered a hand to Janet Frasier and then Buck offered a hand to Teal'c leaving Daniel standing with no ride.

He looked about. "What am I suppose to do?" Daniel asked.

"Walk!" Jimmy told him.

"Why do I have to walk?" he wondered.

"Someone has to walk and it's you." Jimmy informed. "Katie's not well enough to ride."

Ike motioned with his hands. Before Buck could translate the Indian sign Daniel already knew what was said.

"Thank you for that offer." he gratefully stated.

Jack asked, "You know what sign that was?"

"Indian sign." he nodded. "He said he would change with me so I won't have to walk the whole way back."

Buck asked impressed, "You know Indian sign?"

"I studied it. I'm a linguist and I speak twenty eight languages." he informed.

Jimmy stated, "That's a whole lotta talking."

Jack confessed, "It's hard to get him to shut up at times."

"I bet," Jimmy smirked.

Later

In the distance a two story yellow house with white trim and a porch stood with barns and a bunkhouse. Standing on the porch in a blue dress and a white apron was a tall blonde haired and rather busty woman with blue eyes watching the riders return with a relived and yet worried look upon her delicate face. Rachel Dunn was a cook and housekeeper for the Pony Express station and a mother figure the orphans who rode. She gulped upon seeing five figures, all in some strange green uniform and carrying some strange kind of weapon.

The riders arrived at the station before the house and soon dismounted as Rachel asked about the situation.

"I'm glad you boys found Kid but just who are these here folks?" she asked them.

Kid spoke up, "They are friends. Saved me from two scouts that ambushed me and Katie. Helped get the pouch back too." He held up the article.

Rachel looked upon the new faces. She could easily pick out the two females. She looked upon Teal'c and stared at the emblem on his forehead for a moment unsure what to make of it.

Daniel stepped forward as Jack was too busy glowing in the presence of Wild Bill Hickok and Buffalo Bill Cody. He stated, "Good afternoon, Ma'am. You must be Rachel. The boys were telling us that you helped out and that we would meet you. I'm Doctor Daniel Jackson." he offered a hand.

Rachel took one look at the tall handsome brown haired man with blue eyes sporting glasses and instantly liked his looks. He reminded her of her deceased husband physically. She became pleasant, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Doctor." She grasped his hand most gently.

He quickly corrected, "I'm not a medical doctor. I'm a linguist and archeologist."

"Oh!" she smiled for rarely did she find such a well educated man in town.

Janet spoke up, "I'm the medical doctor."

Rachel looked over at the petite red head and quickly agreed, "Lady doctors are not common out this way. But, we lack a doctor right now and the town could certainly use one."

Kid asked Sam, "Are you a medical doctor too, Sam?"

"I'm a scientist." she informed. "Physics." she tried to explain.

Kid asked, "What's that?" He looked about to his friends to see if anyone knew what Sam was talking about.

Jimmy shrugged, "Ghost or something?"

Sam nearly burst out laughing. She shook her head amused, "No! Have you ever heard of Newton's theory on gravity?"

Jimmy shook his head, "Who is Newton?"

Lou spoke up, "I have! Isaac Newton. He's the one who discovered gravity when an apple dropped on his head."

Jimmy miffed, "Book you read, Lou?"

She nodded, "Yes."

"That's exactly right, Lou." Sam agreed. "Physics is a study of how things work. Your guns for example. Physics is the study of how far a bullet can go before it drops and hits the ground."

Jimmy looked down at his gun belt, "Huh…you mean shooting is…pys…iks?"

"It is." Sam nodded amused.

Jack spoke up, "I'm Jack O'Neill and this is my team and our doctor. We are here…um…surveying the trail and such. Anyways…" he reached on how to request assistance. "You by any chance got some clothes we can borrow? All we got is these uniforms and I think this might stick out a little."

Rachel had to agree, "Just a little."

Jimmy asked, "You are a Colonel. You army or something?"

Jack nodded, "Something."

Rachel stood rather amused, "A Colonel. That's impressive. I'm not aware of the Union Army using such uniforms. Are those new?"

"Very." he nodded. "We really could use some clothes that don't stick out. We don't want to alarm the town folks or anything."

Rachel looked at the rider, "I'm sure the riders can help scrounge up something for you and your crew, Colonel. I might have a dress or two that I can spare." She looked to Janet, "Not sure I got anything that will fit you, Doctor."

Lou spoke up, "I got some clothes that will fit her." She really liked the idea of have a doctor in town.

"I appreciate that, Lou." Janet smiled assuring.

Rachel asked, "Have you boys seen Teaspoon about all this?"

"Not yet." Jimmy admitted. "We thought it would be better to bring the Colonel and his friends here first. Them uniforms…" he shook his head. "That's nothing like what's around these parts."

"Or those weapons." Kid added.

Jack figured, "We really should lock the guns up."

"There is an arms crate in the bunkhouse that you can use, Colonel." Rachel told him. She found the sight unusual and had so many questions but didn't want to appear pushy to her guest.

Billy asked, "Can you show us how them there guns work?"

"No!" Jack shook his head. Deep down inside he wanted to tell his heroes everything but knew he could not or risk altering history. He had to discipline himself though his childhood dream of meeting real cowboys and legends had come true.

Jimmy spoke, "This way, Colonel." He motioned for the team to follow.