Disclaimer: I do not own The Young Riders.

Polly sat stiffly in front of him. She didn't relax against his chest the way Ike had kind of let himself hope she would. Ike's arms were around her sides, holding Marie's reins, but that was the only place they were touching as they rode into the waystation. The handoff was a bit awkward and it took longer than usual to toss the other rider the mailbag, but once the rider was riding east, Ike jumped down off Marie and held his arms up to Polly to help her down as well.

Bracing herself on his arms, Polly slid down from Marie's back and let Ike catch her. She was scared and nervous and still not quite sure what she was doing here or if she should be here at all, but it felt good to have Ike's strong arms keeping her safe.

Teaspoon watched the entire exchange from the porch, chewing on a toothpick and feeling mighty pleased with himself. Just last week, he'd been talking about trains trying to convince Ike shouldn't simply hand over what he wanted without a fight just because Doc Jr had more to offer and now here the boy was bringing the girl home. Though, Teaspoon wasn't quite sure why the girl looked like she'd gotten in a fight with an aggressive rooster and lost.

"Well, howdy!" Teaspoon called, not stepping off the porch. "Took you long enough, Ike. Charlie was waitin a hour 'fore you showed up."

"Sorry," Ike signed. One look at Teaspoon told him he really wasn't in any trouble, so he didn't bother getting too upset over being late. "I ran into trouble."

"I'll say you found some trouble. Miss, you look like you found yourself on the angry end of a pissed off mule. Hey, Emma! We got ourself a guest for dinner!" Teaspoon called over his shoulder, but still didn't move from his perch. He wanted to let Ike do this mostly on his own, unless the boy did something stupid. In that case, he was morally obligated to step in and save the boy's chances with the girl he liked so much. It was what fathers did and, blast it all, if Teaspoon didn't find himself thinking like these ratty boys were his own more and more each day.

"Who's here?" Emma came out into the porch and a smile broke out onto her face. "You must be Polly. I'm Emma Shannon. It's nice to finally meet you." When she got closer, she saw the Polly's state and brought a hand to her mouth. "Ike, what did you do to the poor girl? Polly! Are you okay? Ike, what in the world happened?"

Ike hesitated before signing to Emma.

"You tripped? Polly, you must have falling for ages," Emma shook her head and held out a hand for Polly to follow. "Let's get you fixed up."

Polly looked to Ike, who smiled encouragingly and gave her a small push, before following Emma inside. Emma chatted away, filling the silence while Polly cleaned her cuts so that she wasn't forced to talk as Emma sewed the rip in her dress closed. Emma stopped in the middle of telling about the time Ike brought Samson home to take a breath and Polly spoke.

"I didn't really trip," she admitted quietly and Emma nodded. "I was stuck in a tree. Ike found me and got me down. I got scrapped up when a branch broke. I didn't trip. Ike was just being kind."

"Well," Emma smiled and tied off the knot on Polly's sleeve, handing the dress back to her. "I don't see any need to go wastin' his kindness, do you?"

ooo ooo ooo ooo

"Was that Polly Tucker walking into the house?" Cody exploded into the barn, Buck and Kid close behind him, as Ike was washing down Marie. "You actually brought her home! What'd you have to do to get her here? Tell her you were dying?"

"How did you get her here?" Kid asked the question again, a smile bright on his face.

"How'd you get her away from Doc Jr?" Buck wanted to know.

"She fell and needed help," Ike hold them. "Emma's helping her."

"She fell, huh?" Cody's grin widened. "And you just happened to be there? Nice one, Ike. I should use that some time. How exactly did you get her to fall? A rope? Naw, that'd be too noticeable."

Ike scowled. "She fell," he repeated firmly. "She needed help. That's it."

"So…" The wheels turning in Buck's head could be seen across his face. "You didn't get her away from Doc Jr."

"No," Ike shook his head.

"Well then, what the heck are ya doin out here?" Cody rolled his eyes. "She's in there waitin for you ta go in there and sweep her off her feet and you're just sitting out here waitin for daisies!"

"I thought you were gonna marry her," Ike raised an eyebrow at Cody and Cody guffawed.

"Ike, Ike, Ike," Cody shook his head with a huge grin, "I'm gonna marry me Hetty Green. Gonna be livin' rich."

"Yeah, 'cause the richest woman in the world's gonna marry you, Cody," Kid rolled his eyes.

"Dinner's hot, boys!" Teaspoon shouted out over the yard and before long the herd of them was sitting around the table in Emma's kitchen. Teaspoon sat at the head of the table, with Lou, Kid and Cody on one side and Buck, Ike and Polly on the other. Jimmy was out on a ride. Emma dished out stew and biscuits were passed around on a plate.

"So, where are you from, Polly?" Emma asked, as everyone broke bread.

"Brookfield, Wisconsin. In the middle of the big woods."

"And your mama let you come all the way out here by yourself? I don't think I could stand havin my daughter ride clear cross the country."

Polly wiped her mouth. "There were ads for teachers out here, so my father decided to send me. There were no boys and I'm the sixth of six girls, so it was either marry me off or send me away. All of my sisters are married or engaged to be married. I guess I was the odd duck," Polly gave a light laugh, but Emma tutted. Lou and Kid gave matched expressions of disgust. Cody stared with a mouth full of stew and Buck made a face at his plate. Ike wanted to go find her father and demand to know why he thought Polly dispensable. Even Teaspoon looked disapproving.

"Did you want to come?" Ike asked. Buck translated for him and Ike nodded that the translation was right.

"Yes and no," Polly said thoughtfully. "I was scared to leave home, I've never been anywhere but Brookfield. But I was excited to come out here and see the west for myself." She paused and looked Ike right in the eyes with a shy smile. "There aren't as many trees as there are back home."

Ike was quiet for a second and then started laughing and the rest of the table watched the two as Polly seemed to blossom under his doting attention.

A/N:

It was a looooong day at work. I had a three-year-old yank my hair from my head and screech in my ear and her mother, who watched the entire thing, took the child away, didn't scold her and didn't even apologize to me! I hate parents sometimes. They let their kids do whatever the heck they want and then they wonder why their children grow up to be worthless.

I'm going to go watch The Cowboys (which I watched last night) and go to sleep.

Thanks so much for reading!

Love, Thalia

P.S. This is your fault, J. Though, I miss your boys. Not you. You, I'm mad at. But I miss your boys. Love and kisses.