Back at the Pony Express station supper was on the table. Kid was in much better shape having rested the remainder of the day, but Rachel was still angry at what happened at school. Buck was lost in thought and chasing a chunk of carrot around his plate with his fork. Everyone else was just uncomfortable.
"So Buck," Cody said breaking the silence, "Tell us again how Kid got beat up by a ninety-seven pound girl. 'Cause that story ain't ever gettin' old."
Smiles and light laughter sprouted up across the table. Rachel was the only one who didn't seem to enjoy the joke. Buck didn't know if he should talk to her or not. Perhaps he could in a couple of days when she cooled down. Buck suspected that Rachel felt Cricket didn't respect her. He thought maybe Rachel was taking Cricket's school behavior too personally. Because she was such good friends with Jesse, Cricket was almost another member of the family, but Rachel wasn't her surrogate mother like she was Jesse's. Cricket had her own parents. Buck noticed Rachel kept looking at the door expectantly. He finally figured out why when Jesse came rushing through it and sat down hastily at the table.
Jesse looked around the table and asked, "What's with everyone? What'd I miss?"
"Jesse, I don't want you hanging around Cricket anymore," Rachel said.
"What?" Jesse asked loudly. "She gets into a little fight at school and now you don't want me hanging around her anymore?"
Buck looked up at Rachel with a little bit of shock and a look of hurt he couldn't control.
"Little fight?" Rachel answered, "One of those girls has a broken nose, Jesse, and she gave Maryellen a black eye."
"From what Violet told me, they deserved it," Jesse said indignantly.
"I don't care if they deserved it or not," Rachel said hotly, "Cricket is out of control and I don't want you near her right now."
"Rachel I thought you were better than that," Buck said seriously. "You talk about fairness in the way people are treated and then don't apply it in your own actions."
Buck stood up and tossed his half eaten supper into the wash tub and left the bunkhouse.
Rachel sat open mouthed, confused, and looking wide eyed at the rest of the riders.
"Did you ask the girls what the fight was about?" Jimmy asked gently.
"No, but suppose you're going to tell me aren't you?" Rachel asked feeling like a bit of heel.
"Violet told me they called her some really vicious names all because she likes Buck," Jimmy answered. "They were none too kind about what they said about him either."
Rachel held her face in her hands and massaged her temples. The wear of running the station coupled with watching over Jesse and teaching the town's children was starting to get to her.
"Dammit," she sighed looking at the door. "I'm going to apologize to him."
Rachel stood up from the table and went out to the barn. She thought it was a safe bet that Buck was there. She found him in the barn saddling his horse.
"Buck, Jimmy told me what the fight was about," she said hoping to get his attention. "I'm sorry I didn't try to find out."
Buck continued saddling his horse. He was tightening the cinch.
"Please don't leave before we've had a chance to talk," Rachel begged.
"Are you sure you wouldn't just like to make a quick judgment about me and call it good?" Buck asked sarcastically.
"I guess I deserved that," Rachel said wearily and she turned to leave.
Buck felt a little bad. He knew she didn't mean to hurt his feelings.
"I'm sorry, Rachel," He said, "I'm just angry that people who decide to be my friend are always getting hurt because of me."
"I sorry I contributed to that," Rachel said. "I really am. I didn't mean to hurt you."
"I'm going for a short ride to clear my head." Buck said as he lowered the stirrup down.
He mounted his horse and rode out.
Rachel didn't know what to do. She still didn't agree that Cricket should get away with fighting at school. She should be punished so the suspension would stand. She would keep an eye on Maryellen and her friends from now on. She would need to catch them doing something wrong in order to punish them but she was on to them now.
Cricket didn't think she had ever spent a Sunday in more discomfort. Her parents made her get dressed up and attend church with them. Cricket hated wearing dresses and this dress wasn't even as pretty as the dress she had worn to that one dance. This one was oppressive. It was a little on the small side across the shoulders and her arms felt bound. Her mother made her wear a corset and she felt like there was something constantly poking her in the side.
She noted that Maryellen and all her friends were sitting with their parents. She had to stifle a laugh when she saw the bruising on Maryellen's and Hattie's faces. Hattie looked like a raccoon. Given what they had said to her about Buck, she still didn't feel sorry about what she did to them.
Reverend Fields started in on his sermon and he seemed to be preaching right to Cricket. He was talking about children being obedient to their parents. Cricket hated being in church. She wished she could have sat with Jesse, but Rachel seemed to have it in for her right now. She wished this had been her usual Sunday. She liked spending time with the Express horses and especially Buck. He was probably in the barn alone doing his chores. His muscles were probably rippling underneath his shirt right now. Maybe he had a little bit of sweat gathering at his brow or a strand of sweat soaked hair was hanging just over his eye. Cricket was starting to feel all warm and she had a mischievous smile on her face. Her mother elbowed her and gave her a stern look of warning when she let out a small appreciative sigh.
When church let out several of the parishioners were setting up a community picnic. Cricket's parents took her straight home. It was the perfect end to a miserable morning. She was banished to her room until dinner and she was desperate for something to do. She had read all her books and done all her homework. Not that it mattered. She wouldn't be able to turn it in anyway. Cricket felt the tears start to come to her eyes and she went to check her windows. They had been nailed shut again. She hated feeling like a prisoner. Her only hope was that tomorrow would be better.
Cricket's mother had left early for town with her father leaving Cricket alone for the day. She wandered around the house looking at some of her parents possessions for the first time. Her father seemed to have a collection of smoking pipes. She didn't even know he smoked. He must do it away from home, because smoke sometimes irritated her lungs. She looked through her mother's jewelry box and tried on several of the necklaces and bracelets. She was getting bored and flopped down on her parent's bed. She felt something stiff underneath the mattress and lifted the corner to find a small stack of paperback novels. All of them had catchy titles and the covers were very suggestive.
Cricket went to the window and took a quick look out to the road to make sure her parents weren't about to arrive home. She took the books to her room and stated to look at them. They seemed to be a series of stories. There were four books and each bore the name of a season in its title. There was Whispering Spring. That one seemed to be the first book. It looked to be all about the start of the love affair. That made sense to her with what usually happened in spring. All the flowers were new and the earth was recovering from the winter. Love was often new in the spring.
The second book was Stolen Summer which looked like where the story probably got complicated. It did look like the story was really steamy. On the cover the male lover wasn't wearing a shirt. Cricket giggled. She wondered if the love affair was a forbidden one.
The third book in the quartet was Enchanted Autumn. There looked to be a fall wedding involved in this book. The female lover was decked out what looked like a wedding dress. There were dried wildflowers in her hair. She was sure this installment was going to be very romantic.
The fourth and final book was Haunted Winter. This looked like the conclusion of the love story. Their faces on the cover looked sort of sad. Given the title, Cricket was sure their love affair had a nice romantic, but ultimately tragic end to it.
Cricket placed Whispering Spring on her bed and took the other books back to her parent's bedroom. She looked once more out the window to make sure she would still be alone. She went back into her room. She pulled out her copy of the McGuffey Reader volume four and set Whispering Spring inside so she could hide it quickly if her mother was to come into her room. It would look like she was keeping up with her schoolwork. Cricket took a deep breath and peeled back the cover and flipped the pages to the first page and started to read. Her eyes got big and a smile began to spread across her face.
She let out the breath she was holding as the story began to unfold. Helena was a broken hearted young woman who was just back from finishing school and now lived with her father on a prosperous horse farm in Kentucky. Her father bred and raised fine thoroughbred horses for racing and she was heir to his empire. They had a stable boy named Tristan. The description of Tristan reminded Cricket of Buck so she always saw Buck in her mind's eye while reading about Tristan. Helena took a walk one warm spring day like so many others and saw Tristan in the stables working. It was a passage Cricket seemed to like reading over and over. She couldn't get her mind off of it.
"Helena watched as he pulled his work shirt off over his head. His long locks of dark brown hair cascaded onto his shoulders. She could see the beads of sweat on his skin glisten in the setting of the sun. Her breath caught in her chest as she watched the muscled planes of this back flex while he lifted forkfuls of hay into the horses' stalls.
Tristan turned and didn't look startled to see her. She thought he must have known that she watched him at this time every day. His broad chest made him look like a chiseled Adonis. His molten chocolate eyes pierced her soul and she stood helpless. She could feel her pulse race as he walked toward her. She couldn't look away. Her breath began to quicken in her chest. Her honey soft breasts heaved against the neckline of her bodice as he neared. She backed away until she felt the firm wall behind her. He trapped her there and leaned in and captured her mouth and absorbed her essence into his being. She could feel her lips pulsing against his as they gave into the mutual attraction between them. She parted her lips and let him plunder her mouth. He broke the kiss and turned from her leaving her trembling and yearning for his return."
Cricket felt warm and tingly as she imagined herself standing in the Pony Express station barn watching Buck do his chores. It would be a nice warm day and he would feel the need to take off his shirt. She imagined what his bare chest would look like. Cricket giggled and hugged the book tight to her chest. He would see her staring at him and start to walk toward her and look deep into her eyes. He would lean in as her still blossoming bosoms attempted to heave.
Cricket frowned. She needed 'heaving bosoms.' Rachel had 'heaving bosoms.' Boys liked 'heaving bosoms.' Cody looked at 'heaving bosoms' all the time and so did Jesse. Maybe that was why Buck always treated her like a child. She didn't have 'heaving bosoms.' She didn't even know how to attain 'heaving bosoms.' Her mother didn't have any. Maybe she could ask Rachel how she got hers.
Cricket's thoughts were suddenly disrupted as she heard the familiar sounds of a buckboard arrive in front of her house. She looked out the window and saw that her parents had returned home. Cricket took one of her hair ribbons, marked the page in the book where she had left off, and tucked it under the mattress of her bed. She waited for her parents to come inside and then she would help her mother prepare supper. She would have to wait for tomorrow to read more about Helena and Tristan although she would fall asleep tonight thinking about Buck kissing her the way Tristan kissed Helena.
A/N Do not fret...I'm working on a new chapter of Derailed as we speak. I hope to update that story soon!