Chapter Eight
The hour was early, but Buck had a hard time sleeping all night. He didn't like that Cricket didn't come over after school to help out with Speedy. There was something gnawing at him about Cricket. Buck decided he wasn't going to get any more sleep and sat up. The other riders were sleeping soundly. He quietly dressed and grabbed his boots in his hand as he went out the door. Boots were noisy and he didn't want to wake the others. Buck slipped his boots on while he was on the porch and stretched as he walked toward the barn. The horses were mostly calm when he walked inside. Speedy was alert and reacted to his presence. Usually horses only did that when they wanted attention. Buck walked over to Speedy's stall and gave her a pet. He smiled at the horse's affectionate nature. She was going to make Cricket a fantastic mount.
Speedy moved and Buck caught something in the corner of his eye. He ducked under Speedy's neck to get a better view.
"Oh, no," Buck mumbled as he realized Cricket was curled up in the corner of the stall. Buck started to become alarmed as he took in her condition. An angry bruise spread across her cheek and it looked she'd been crying. Buck opened the door to Speedy's stall, but Speedy wouldn't let him pass. In any other circumstance Buck would be happy that horse and rider were so closely bonded, but right now he wanted to make sure Cricket was all right. Buck had no choice but to lead Speedy out of the stall so he could tend to Cricket.
After Speedy was clear of the stall, Buck rushed back inside and stopped just short of Cricket. He took in a larger picture this time. Her clothes were in tatters. It reminded him of another time he came upon a girl bruised and in tattered clothing. That one had been raped and left for dead. Buck could feel the anger rising in him. When he found out who hurt Cricket they would pay dearly. He needed to keep his focus right now and he didn't want to scare her.
Buck thought for a second. He was probably the last person she wanted to see her like this. He decided it would be better if he got Lou. Buck rushed out of the barn and back to the bunkhouse. He was less concerned about waking the others this time. He burst through the door and ran right to Lou's bunk.
"Lou," Buck said not so gently shaking Lou's shoulder. "Lou, wake up."
"Oh come on, Buck," Lou grumped. "I'm tired."
"Lou, I need your help, please," Buck insisted.
Lou opened her eyes and when she saw the panic and worry in Buck's face, she was instantly awake.
"What's wrong?" she asked suddenly awake. She started to dress quickly.
"Someone hurt Cricket," he said, "She's out in the barn. I didn't want to wake her. I thought I might scare her."
"What do you mean by 'hurt'?" Lou asked.
Buck couldn't answer. He just looked at the floor and tried to find the words.
Lou jumped down from her bunk and finished getting dressed.
Buck grabbed a clean shirt from his trunk and followed Lou out of the bunkhouse. The rest of the riders started stirring and wondering what was going on.
Buck stood back while Lou gingerly approached Cricket's prone form. "Cricket," Lou said softly. "Wake up, sweetheart."
Cricket woke with a startle and scrunched herself into a tighter ball as she recoiled from Lou's touch.
"Cricket, it's me, Lou," Lou said. She looked up at Buck with worry in her eyes. "You best get Rachel."
Buck put his extra shirt on the stall rail, ran out of the barn and toward the house. It was a good bet that Rachel was up making breakfast so he didn't feel bad about rushing into the house to find her.
When Buck came back with Rachel, Lou was still trying to get close to Cricket.
"Lou, let me try," Rachel said moving inside the stall. Rachel knelt down next to Cricket and hummed a lullaby as she sat. "Cricket, you're safe, sweetheart."
Cricket looked up at Rachel and relaxed a little as Rachel swept Cricket's hair from her face.
"Everything is going to be alright," Rachel said, "Whatever happened to you is over now."
Cricket sat up slowly and buried her face into Rachel's shoulder and started to sob. The release felt good. She felt Rachel's arms around her and felt safe and protected. She didn't want to talk about what happened, but she knew that Rachel and maybe even Teaspoon would ask her questions. Cricket didn't know what to say. She was embarrassed and ashamed about what had happened last night. She felt so stupid. She also didn't want to hurt Jesse. Jesse was her friend and he looked up to Frank.
Lou handed Rachel Buck's shirt. "Here, honey, why don't we put this on you and cover you up," Rachel said. "I think we should take you to the doctor's office. He can make sure you're alright."
Cricket shook her head. She didn't want to go anywhere. She just wanted to disappear.
"Honey," Rachel said gently, "If a man attacked you, the doctor has to make sure you're not hurt."
"I got away," Cricket said softly. "He didn't..."
Rachel looked a Lou with a look of relief as she hugged Cricket closer. Lou in turn passed the silent message off to Buck and he felt the tension leave his shoulders.
"We should get you up to the house," Rachel said. "You can wash up and wait for your parents there."
Cricket shook her head again as new tears fell. She didn't want anyone to see her. It was bad enough Lou was here.
"I know, sweetheart, I know," Rachel said as she stroked Cricket's hair. "Everything's going to be fine. We're all concerned about you here. Nobody here would ever think less of you."
Cricket took a bit of time to look around the stall and her surroundings. Speedy wasn't in the stall anymore and Lou was standing just outside of it. Cricket looked down at the shirt she had put on. It was Buck's. She would know that blue shirt with the narrow white stripes anywhere.
"He knows, doesn't he?" Cricket asked as she played with the cuff of Buck's shirt.
"Yes, he does, Sweetheart," Rachel said calmly. "He's the one who found you and he's been here the whole time. He didn't want to scare you."
Cricket nodded and felt a little defeated.
"Why don't you let him carry you to the house," Rachel suggested.
"Can't I just stay here?" Cricket asked.
"The boys need to get to doing their chores," Rachel said. "I'm afraid you won't find any privacy here. Let us take you to the house. It's still real early and there aren't many people milling about town yet."
Cricket reluctantly agreed. "I think I can walk," she added. Cricket stood up and nearly fell back down. Her legs were shaky from running away from Frank and from the sleeping posture she had been in. She hobbled over to Lou but she could barely stand. Buck came over and picked her up just as she was about to fall. Cricket looked into Buck's eyes expecting to see pity, but all she saw was concern instead. She was too tired and drained to appreciate it, but she was just happy he didn't pity her.
Buck had rescued Cricket from danger before. The thought of the times he had carried her places because she couldn't breathe. She had held onto him so tightly. The same was true when he saved her from drowning. This time was different. She was different. It didn't seem like she should be worthy of his care or concern. She didn't hold onto him at all and except the look they exchanged when he picked her up, she didn't make eye contact with him at all. She was not the spunky girl everyone always expected.
Buck and Rachel got Cricket settled in Rachel's room.
"Cricket, Teaspoon's going to want to talk to you about what happened," Rachel said gently.
"I know," Cricket responded. "I need to speak to Jesse first."
Buck and Rachel looked at each other quizzically.
"I'll find him," Buck volunteered. He had a bad feeling about this.
Cricket sat on Rachel's bed and looked around the room. Rachel had a sparsely decorated room, but most of the objects inside looked precious to her. Cricket tried to pass the time thinking of other things, but the only thoughts that came to her were the violent images from the night before. She was glad the sun was shining at the very least. It meant that life went on and things could be better in time.
There was a gentle knock on the door and Jesse poked his head inside. "Rachel said you was hurt and wanted to see me."
"I needed to talk to you before I said anything to anyone else, especially Teaspoon," Cricket said.
"Are you alright," Jesse asked after observing the bruise on her cheek.
Cricket nodded, "I will be, I guess."
"Ok," Jesse said awkwardly, "Well, I guess I'll see you around."
"Frank did this to me," Cricket said quickly when Jesse turned to leave. "He tried to…"
Jesse stopped, but did not turn.
"Frank left," Jesse said interrupting her with a cold steady calm. "If he was back he would have let me know."
"He's been here for days," Cricket said. "I don't think he ever left."
"You're lying," Jesse said with a slightly raised voice.
"Jesse, Frank's bad news," Cricket said. "He doesn't care about who he hurts or why."
"He's my brother," Jesse said offended. "It's not like he's some stranger. You girls are all the same."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Cricket asked nearly in tears.
"You're just as bad a Maryellen and what she did to Buck," Jesse clarified. "You can't just accuse people like that."
"Jesse, I haven't accused anyone of anything," Cricket said wounded. "You're my friend and Frank is your brother. You're the only person I've told."
Jesse silently stood in the doorway while Cricket sat on the bed hugging her knees to her chest.
"Frank is staying at an abandoned cabin near the Proctor place," Cricket said. "The cabin is almost hidden on the edge of the woods. Why don't you ask him what happened."
"Are you gonna tell Teaspoon?" Jesse asked as he leaned against the door frame.
"I have to tell him something," Cricket answered. "I imagine he's waiting to see me."
Jesse nodded. "He's downstairs. Don't tell him anything yet, please."
"Jesse…" Cricket started.
"I never ask anything of you, please, just this once," Jesse begged.
Cricket nodded and rested her head on her knees as Jesse left. Cricket tried not to cry. She knew Jesse was angry and confused. She just hoped he would see through whatever Frank might tell him and see the truth.
Teaspoon stayed on the porch with Buck while Jesse was upstairs.
The wait was longer than Buck would have liked. He paced back and forth feeling the anger inside him start turning to rage.
"Buck, I know you're angry, I am too," Teaspoon said. "Let the law handle this. We'll find out who hurt Cricket and deal with him."
"It's just that her birthday is at the end of next week," Buck said.
"Well, then we'll just have to catch this guy quick, won't we?" Teaspoon said. "Are you getting attached to her, son?"
"What? No," Buck said a little too adamantly. "She's just a kid."
Teaspoon chuckled, "I'm sure Cricket don't see it that way."
"Yeah, well, Cricket sees a lot of things differently than most people," Buck said. "I don't think she wishes to believe she has problems breathing from time to time either, but that doesn't alter the reality."
"Yep, that one has an adventuresome streak in her," Teaspoon said. "She reminds me of my third wife, Polly. Now there was a woman who liked to get into trouble."
"What happened?" Buck asked.
"I was gone too much so she looked for adventure elsewhere," Teaspoon answered. "Biggest mistake of my life."
Buck pondered Teaspoon's words for a moment. Maybe in a few years, if he was still around, he would consider something romantic, but Cricket was much too young to think about in that way -at least for him.
The silence was interrupted when Teaspoon and Buck heard arguing from above and Jesse came barreling out the door looking angry. He slammed the door and took off toward the barn. Buck made a slight move to talk to him but Teaspoon grabbed his elbow.
"Let him go, son," Teaspoon said. "He looks like he needs to cool off."
Teaspoon walked into the house as Buck watched Jesse ride out.