Disclaimer: I do not own The Young Riders.

"Are you insane?" Polly hissed, pushing away from him, her eyes wide and nervous.

Ike stared at her, his own eyes wide and terrified at what he'd just done. Standing there, a foot and a half away from her, he had no idea what had compelled him to do that. Moves like that were for men like Jimmy or Cody, men with charm and looks to back them up, men who knew how to magic their way beneath a woman's skirt and then slip back out without getting themselves hung. Ike was the kind of man couldn't charm his way out of anything. He couldn't even spell the word 'handy.' That i just hadn't look right at the end there.

Besides, what woman would want to be kissed by a man who couldn't even tell her he thought she looked pretty with her hair up like that?

"I knew you were mute, but I didn't know you were outside your God-given mind!" Polly put desks between them. "What if someone saw us? What if Reverend Williams saw us? Or his wife or children? They'd send me straight away! I haven't even been in Sweetwater a week yet!"

Ike bolted from the schoolhouse, dropping the chalk slate and high tailing it outside like God Almighty had reached down from the Heavens and chased him out Himself. He jumped on his horse and gave the beast a few swift kicks until she was galloping away towards the station.

What had he been thinking? A woman like her wouldn't want anything to do with a broken man like himself. A woman like Polly Tucker would end up married to a man who deserved her. Ike's vision blurred and he slowed the horse to wipe at his eyes with his dirty sleeve. He dismounted about halfway to the station house and dropped to the ground behind a bush tree, crossing his arms over his knees and burying his face in his sleeves.

Ike usually didn't allow himself dreams. He knew how lucky he was already, how it was a miracle he had such a good job with the Pony Express when most employers wouldn't look at him twice. He never dared to dream of anything more than being a Pony Express rider until he dropped dead or was killed. He never let himself dream of having a wife or a family. It wasn't in the hand life dealt him. It would never be in his hand.

Watching Polly from his spot by the window, though, watching her teach the little ones in the first few rows, Ike had let his mind wonder with the idea of Polly or someone like her mothering his children. The whole daydream ran away from him and the next thing he knew he was kissing her.

He was eighteen long years old and he'd never kissed a girl before this afternoon. For the briefest moment it felt like it'd last forever, like it was the first of a million kisses he'd share with Polly Tucker and, in the next breath, the moment shattered into shards of fine glass on the schoolhouses' wood floors.

Polly's reaction brought him right back to reality, reminding him how distant any dream of a family really was. No one wanted a mute man as an employee and no woman would ever want one for a husband. What woman would want a husband whose voice she'd never hear? A husband who could never tell her he loved her or whisper in her ear?

That wasn't a curse he'd wish on any woman, much less one he liked.

ooo ooo ooo ooo

Polly sat behind her desk, stunned and confused and remembering the taste of Ike's kiss on her lips. Pastor Tucker was right. She never should have come all the way out to Nebraska Territory on her own. It was inviting trouble for a girl of only sisteen to travel two thousand miles across this wild country on her own. She'd been in Sweetwater for all of five days and already she was tiptoeing along the line that would get her shipped right back to Brookfield.

"Polly Tucker, you best get your head on straight," Polly told herself, but, even as she said the words, she was staring at the spot by the window Ike had occupied for two hours. She'd watched Ike between paying attention to her students. The way his hands were sure and steady in their movements created butterflies in her stomach and the quiet blush that tinted his face when she spoke to him warmed her heart and made her smile.

He'd caught her breath at the general store with the way he'd looked at her, like she was something special. Polly had never felt special before – the sixth of six daughters was a disappointment, not a treasure. But Ike had looked at her like he'd never see someone like her again. The only thing special about Polly, that she could think of, was how ordinary she was; ordinary enough to overlook and ordinary enough to send away to make her own fate without being missed.

Ike made her feel special. Ike made her want to kiss him again and again and curl into arms she just knew would be safe and strong. Ike threw her sensibilities right out the window and turned her into a moony sixteen-year-old over the attention of a… she didn't even know how old he was. She didn't know where he was from, she didn't know his story, but when she looked into his eyes she knew as well as she knew her own name that she could and would fall so hard into him that she'd lose herself completely.

That was one thing she couldn't afford to let happen. A young teacher couldn't afford to let herself fall for a Pony Express rider. If she did, she might as well rip out her own heart and let stampede of wild Mustangs trample it into the ground. The end result would be the same.

She needed to stay far, far away from Ike McSwain and his sweet, shy smile before she found herself dancing straight off the edge of insanity and into sin for the mute rider with uncanny knack for making her weak in the knees, quick in the heart and stupid in the head.

A/N:

Because I don't have enough on my plate with two Criminal Minds stories, a Harry Potter story and all my original fictions. Of course not. What's another story? Who needs restraint?

I've watched 10 TYR episodes in less than a day. Plus went to work. I need serious help. J, THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT.

Anywho, thanks for the wonderful welcome, yall! J was so right about how amazing yall are. Thanks a bunch!

Thanks for reading and I hope you liked it.

Love, Thalia