November 12th, 1871

She was one of the only people left at the train depot. Her train had arrived about fifteen minutes ago and she had been peering out of the window, squirming around in her seat trying to see the Cobb family. While there were several people walking by, none of them were people she recognized. What if they didn't come? What if they forgot about me? She thought as her heart started beating rapidly. She didn't have enough money to stay anywhere for the night.

Just as she was about to start crying a man who had been walking down the street approached her. "You must be Ariadne Nicola." He said with a smile. He had light brown hair, slicked back under his cowboy hat and dust or mud covering parts of his clothes and boots. Well doesn't he look like a very stereotypical cowboy? Ariadne mused.

"Hello," she said with a quizzical look on her face.

"Hi, my name is Joseph Eames. Dom Cob was detained in town and asked if I could pick you up. I had to come to Cheyenne today anyway." He said, once again smiling. He had a very handsome face, even though he seemed at least ten years older than her, Ariadne couldn't help but blushing.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Eames?" He nodded, "Yes, right. Well I don't think I feel comfortable going anywhere with you without talking to Dom first. I don't mean to be rude, it's just that he's never said anything about you and he was supposed to be the one picking me up."

"Right, of course, how could I forget?" He said and looked down to pull a folded up letter out of his jacket pocket. It was sealed shut with her name on it written in Dom's handwriting.

She eyed him suspiciously but took the letter and turned away to read it.

Hello Ariadne,

I apologize for the situation I have put you in. Please do not fret over riding into Juniper Springs with Joseph. He is a friend and a trustworthy mean. I am unable to leave the house; unfortunately I fell yesterday and twisted my ankle. No need to worry, my dear wife is taking care of me. It does make travel difficult though.

Joseph was headed into Cheyenne to pick up supplies for his business and offered to give you a ride. You may ask him any sort of questions about my family, I assure you he knows us and will drive you straight into town. We will be waiting at the depot at 5:00PM.

See you soon!

Dom

Ariadne folded up the letter and put it into her jacket pocket. She then turned and looked at the stranger.

"Mr. Eames?" Ariadne said and he turned around and walked up to her.

"Darling, please call me Joseph." He said with a smile.

"Yes well… Joseph, how many kids does Dom have?" Ariadne couldn't think of a more basic question to ask him, but he didn't seem to mind that she was questioning him. For heaven sakes, does he ever stop smiling!? She thought as he looked at her. Even while he's talking!

"Two, James and Phillipa, they moved out here two years ago when Mal was pregnant. They own a house on the edge of town and have a small farm with several animals. Mal loves it out here but talks about New York often. They mentioned you used to nanny Phillipa when she was little. Dom said he had you in mind from the minute that Mrs. Ellis retired last year.

Now, have I passed your test, or do you need to ask me more questions?" He said with yet another grin.

"Alright," she said with a little smile finally gracing her lips for the first time since she had stepped off the train, "when can we leave?"

He laughed and said, "That's more like it! I have a bit of a heavy load to pick up for work before we leave, so it will take a little longer than normal for the horses to get us back to town. But it's still early so we don't necessarily have to leave right away." He looked behind him towards one of the streets headed away from the train station and then back at her, "are you hungry?"

Ariadne was starving. The dining car on the train was much too expensive to for her to afford, and she had eaten the last of the food she had from St. Louis for lunch the day before. Basically she had only eaten cold bread and cheese and some dried fruits while she was on the train. Her only hot meals in the last two weeks had been at the boarding house in St. Louis. In her nervousness today she had forgotten her stomach, but now it seemed to be shouting at her.

"Well, I don't know if I can afford anything…" She said and she looked down, embarrassed at her poverty.

"Darling, I didn't ask if you had money for a meal. I asked if you were hungry. Are you?" He said as he lifted her chin so she was again looking at him.

She giggled softly and replied, "Yes. I am very hungry. But I already told you…" He interrupted her before she could get another word in. "Well you're in luck! I know a wonderful little restaurant just down the road. As a welcome to the wonderful territory of Wyoming, would you please allow me to purchase your first meal?"

"Do I have a choice?" She said with a laugh.

"No you don't." He said grinning again.

"Well then… let's go." And with that he grabbed her trunk and lifted it over his shoulder as if it weighed nothing. They walked to the end of the street and around the corner. Ariadne was shocked as the city seemed to come to life. There had been very few people by the train depot, but just a block away there were over a dozen men and women out and about, and no one seemed bothered by the cold. She could count ten horses all outfitted with saddles and packs waiting out in front of the G.E. Williams General Store. She had only ever seen horses packed up like that in drawings in Wild West books that the boys in the orphanage liked to read. As they walked further down the road she determined that many of the horses probably belonged to the men in the saloon next door to the General Store. She could hear an organ playing inside, along with the sounds of people laughing and shouting to each other.

Several women walked by on a wooden walkway and Ariadne couldn't help but feel overdressed. Even her out of fashion traveling dress and jacket from New York seemed too fancy for this city. The women were wearing what looked like practical brown men's jackets and unembellished cotton dresses; one was light blue with little flowers and the other a plaid print. It didn't seem that they were wearing very many petticoats. They each had bonnets that matched their dresses and rosy cheeks from walking out in the cold. When Eames noticed them and tipped his hat as a greeting. They grinned at each other, giggled and rushed off.

Ariadne smiled and kept looking around. Everything was so different here. While there was some snow on the ground, it had melted in most parts of the street and everything had turned to mud. Wood boards had been placed strategically in front of the stores so people could walk outside without sludging through all the mud. There were no cobblestone streets out here. Good thing she didn't have fancy, petite boots like so many women did in New York, because they would have surely been ruined out here.

All of the buildings were constructed out of wood. Many of the shops had painted words on their fronts rather than actual signs. Ariadne saw the Cheyenne Billiards Club and next to it a large building with the word HOTEL painted in bright red letters. A man walked out of the hotel wearing tight denim pants with leather pants over them. Ariadne didn't know what they were called but they had fringe on the sides and did not cover the back part of the man's jeans. He had a cowboy hat on just like Eames, and a red handkerchief tied around his neck. His boots made a little clanking sound as he walked and Ariadne noticed little metal stars on the back that spun around with each step. He looked every bit like the cowboy Ariadne had always imagined.

She must have been staring because she didn't notice Eames look at her and she jumped a little when he asked, "I take it you've never seen a real cowboy before?"

She looked at him with a smile and replied, "No, men don't generally dress like that in New York."

"Well get ready to see it a lot out here. Even men who don't work with cattle tend to dress like that. Come on, here is the restaurant." Ariadne looked over and saw a little building with pretty white curtains in the windows. The sign said Minnie's Café.

When the entered an elderly woman looked up from one of the tables and exclaimed, "Joseph Eames! I haven't seen you in months! You are looking well, come, come, sit down and I will fix you up some lunch."

Eames set down Ariadne's trunk and strolled over, picking the woman up and giving her a huge hug. "Minnie, I couldn't come to town without seeing you! Is it too late to get some of your delicious biscuits and gravy? Maybe some bacon and coffee too?"

"Of course darling. And who is this; did you finally settle down and get yourself a pretty new wife?" She looked behind Eames and saw Ariadne.

"No, no this is Ariadne Nicola; she is the new school teacher for Juniper Springs. I just picked her up from the train station.

Minnie walked over and took Ariadne's hand and smiled at her. "Welcome to Wyoming dearie. How do you like it so far?"

"Well ma'am I just got off the train twenty minutes ago. I don't really know yet," Ariadne said but didn't want to offend her, so she added, "But it seems wonderful so far. Everyone is nice."

"Sit, sit. We will get you two fed and you can get to know each other." She said with a wink. Ariadne blushed and let them lead her to a table.

Three hours later they finally left Cheyenne. They had a wonderfully delicious meal, and after they ate, Minnie came and sat with them where they talked and laughed and had a delightful time. Ariadne was sad to say goodbye.

After that Eames had to pick up his order at the G.E. Williams General Store they had walked past earlier. Ariadne had been a bit shocked to see the entire wagon fill up with alcohol. The shock must have been all over her face because Eames laughed when he saw her and told her about his saloon. She hadn't realized he was in that line of business.

Their ride home was quite cold. Ariadne ended up huddled under a blanket, cuddled up next to Eames as she tried to keep warm. It had only been a few hours since she met him but she already liked him immensely. He was witty and friendly and everything a woman could want in a man. Only Ariadne didn't really think about him in that manner. They had developed an easy friendship and she could already tell he would be just like a brother to her. Which was perfect, because she had always wanted a big brother.

Arthur was walking down Main Street when he saw a wagon coming into the depot. He saw the Cobb family standing there waiting. The kids were running around playing a game of tag and Dom seemed to be resting his weight on a crutch of some kind. When the wagon got closer Mal called the kids over and Phillipa started shouting something over and over. She hugged her mom and then turned and started laughing and clapping, waiting for the wagon to stop.

Must be the new school teacher, thought Arthur. He was happy she had finally arrived. Then he stopped short when he recognized the wagon. Is she with Eames? I wonder how he could possibly know her, he thought with curiousity

Her hat covered her face, and she was under a blanket on the front seat, huddled next to Eames, for warmth no doubt. Luckily the sun was shining today, but there was still a heavy chill in the air. Arthur stood and watched as Eames jumped down and ran around to the other side of the wagon to help her down.

When he helped her down Arthur realized how tiny she was. He hadn't been able to tell when she was under the blanket. She barely came up to Eames shoulder and even in her big dress Arthur could tell that she was quite dainty. Well I didn't expect her to look like this… Arthur thought. Every teacher he had ever had was at least twenty years older than any of the students, but this one looked to be even younger than Arthur.

Phillipa almost toppled them both over when she jumped into the teacher's arms. The teacher had to take a step back and as she swayed backwards her hat fell off.

Arthur momentarily forgot to breathe. She was beautiful. Beyond anything he could have imagined, she was stunning. Her dark brown hair was pulled back into a knot at the base of her neck, but she had soft strays framing her face. Her lips and cheeks were red, probably from the cold and when she smiled and laughed with the Cobb family her eyes sparkled with joy.

She can't be the teacher. She is too young… She is too beautiful. Arthur had to shake himself out of his trance, he was staring. Why is she with Eames? How does he know her? Arthur tried not to be jealous of the older man, but as he saw him hug her before she left with the Cobbs, he just felt defeated. Already. He had seen her for two whole minutes and knew by the way she eagerly threw her arms around Eames that her affections had already been taken.

It was bound to happen; an available, beautiful, young woman coming out here to Wyoming would be married in no time. But why Eames?!

He he he and you thought Eames was stealing her affections didn't you! Don't worry I'm not going to complicate things and make their relationship into a romantic one. But Arthur doesnt know that lol. And neither will Abigail! :)