Chapter 9
The next morning, as soon as Bea came down, she had to face Rachel but she expected it.
"At that time? How did it go? How did Buck react?" the woman asked her.
"It went wonderfully!" and waved her ring before her eyes.
"Did he propose to you? But it's great! And when will you get married?"
"It was very sweet. After dinner we went out for a walk. At first we were both silent, then Buck said he had to talk to me: he reiterated how much he loves me and that he wants to spend the rest of his life with me, he got down on his knees and asked me to be his wife. At that point, after accepting, I told him about the child and his eyes lit up. He can't wait to become a father."
"Did you see that I was right? So will you get married soon?"
"Actually not that soon. He wants to build our house first and has obtained permission to build it right nearby. This morning we will tell everyone and ask for the boys' help to do it as soon as possible."
"Why are you waiting despite your pregnancy? You'll notice it in a little while."
"We also thought about this: we will say that when we went to Red Bear we got married according to the Kiowa rite and that as soon as the house is ready we will confirm the ceremony according to the Catholic rite"
"But yes, who cares, I'm so happy for you" and she hugged her.
They went to the bunkhouse to prepare breakfast and when they were all seated, taking advantage of the fact that no one was out for the ride yet and that Teaspoon had not yet gone into town because his deputy Burnett was replacing him (Teaspoon had replaced Sam as marshal ), Bea and Buck took the opportunity to break the two pieces of news.
It was Buck who spoke: "Guys, I have a favor to ask you."
"Don't ask us to do your run because the answer is no brother", Noah replied.
"Oh gentlemen, an extra ride is nothing compared to what I have to ask of you but I know that you are my family and that you can't say no to me", Buck replied, taking it out of his way.
"You know this is moral blackmail right?" Cody pointed out.
"I know, but I know also that in the end you will be happy to help me"
"What exactly do we do, Buck?" Jimmy asked, getting straight to the point.
"Here, Bea and I would like to ask you if you will help us build our house right next door", Buck said in one breath and took Bea's hand.
"What? But then you get married! You proposed to her!" Lou exclaimed enthusiastically.
It was Bea who replied: "Yes, Buck asked me last night and of course I said yes" and showed her ring.
Everyone applauded and Teaspoon said: "Well done, our Buck. Well guys, I'd say you can't say no."
+ Of course we will help you, we will do it with pleasure+, Ike signed.
"Take it easy, though, Buck, you don't want exhausted friends at your wedding", Cody said.
"Well, we actually can't afford to wait long, we need to get married as soon as possible", Buck pointed out.
"But what's your hurry, sorry, you waited until now, you see each other every day anyway", said Kid.
"You know Kid, not everyone waits forever to start a family", Lou said looking him straight in the eyes and Kid returned that meaningful look.
It was Bea who interrupted that little tension between them: "We really can't wait that long, there's someone who's in a hurry to meet mum, dad and his uncles"
They were all silent for a moment, then Noah almost shouted: "Are you pregnant?"
"Yes, Buck and I are expecting a baby, I'm about two months pregnant", Bea announced.
+ It's wonderful, I'm so happy for you + and Ike hugged both of you.
"Wow, that's some great news", Teaspoon commented.
"Buck, now that everything is out in the open, we can tell you: when you snuck out to meet her and then snuck back, you didn't do it so sly, you woke us all up, but out of politeness we always pretended nothing happened... ", Jimmy said, laughing.
Bea and Buck blushed but in the end they all burst out laughing and congratulated the betrothed.
Buck explained that they would say that they were already married according to the Kiowa rite and that as soon as the house was ready, they would also get married according to the Catholic rite. They would have said that the child had been conceived at Red Bear's camp and in fact, doing the math, that could also have been true.
"I don't know if people will understand, but I don't care, we're so happy", Bea said.
The boys promised that that same day they would accompany Buck to get the necessary things and that they would get to work immediately. The house would be built before Bea's belly would begin to show, they promised and the couple thanked them heartily.
In the afternoon Bea also told Annie about it, then she started writing to her parents that Buck had proposed to her and that they would get married as soon as the construction of their house was finished. As anticipated to Buck, she preferred not to mention the child for the moment.
She then also wrote to Emma, to whom she gave both news and officially asked her to attend their wedding.
That evening she told Buck that the following Sunday they would go to Aunt Rose to tell her the good news, but they wouldn't tell her about the baby either.
While they were sitting cuddling on the porch, Bea said to Buck: "My love, I would like us to really get married according to the Kiowa rite, perhaps after the birth of the child. We could take him to your brother to introduce him to your family and on that occasion we could get married. I want our two traditions to be respected, both. What do you say?"
"It's a nice idea darling, but let's see how things go, let's not rush too much and let's enjoy these beautiful moments together" and he kissed her tenderly.
On Sunday, as decided, they went to Aunt Rose who joyfully welcomed the news and promised to be present at the ceremony. She would write a letter to Bea's parents in which she would finally tell them about her physical condition, explaining to them that it was she who prevented Bea from informing them so as not to make them worry. When they met at the wedding they would find out anyway, so it was best to prepare them. Bea and Buck agreed with her.
In the following weeks, the boys worked hard to build the house and Buck was very affectionate and attentive to Bea, spoiling her and cuddling her whenever he could.
Given the progress with the house, the wedding was set for the end of September and Bea and Buck wrote to both her parents and Sam and Emma to communicate the date.
Unfortunately, Buck had to inform Bea that they probably wouldn't be able to go to Red Bear after the baby was born like they had planned. Lately, problems with the Indian tribes had flared up again and specifically, there were hostilities between Kiowa and Arapaho which also brought some problems near the city and people were starting to get agitated. Buck was sent to his brother's tribe to find out about the situation and on that occasion he was able to update him on the news about him and Bea. It was Red Bear himself who advised him against taking Bea and the child to camp.
The Arapahos did not take kindly to Buck's intervention and decided to take revenge. One day, as he was returning from one of his races, they ambushed him: they unseated him from his horse, made the animal escape after inserting a warning message into the mochila, and dragged him into the camp. Here they tied him up and brought him before the tribal chief. Buck was interrogated and when he explained who he was and his location, they decided to hold him hostage to convince Red Bear to conflict with them. Red Bear had always tried to avoid direct confrontation. The dispute arose for hunting reasons but the Kiowa chief was convinced that this was just a pretext because the Arapaho wanted their land. He had tried to send diplomatic embassies but all attempts had failed.
At the station, Bea was hanging out the clothes under the close supervision of Rachel who had promised Buck that she wouldn't make her tired. It was she who noticed that Buck's horse was returning riderless.
"OMG! Rachel, guys, something happened to Buck!" and rushed towards the animal. Rachel reached her in an instant and tried to stop her: "Bea don't get excited like that, it's not good for the baby"
"How come the horse comes back without him? What happened to him?"
"Don't worry darling, now let's try to understand".
In the meantime the boys had joined them. Ike stopped the horse and when he saw that the mochila was in its place, he took it and opened it: he found the warning left by the Arapaho and looked at the others bewildered.
"I'll take it to Teaspoon", said Jimmy, taking the message.
Lou rushed to Rachel's side to support Bea who fainted when she saw the message.
"Noah, help me carry her in, Cody go get the doctor, quick. Lou, prepare a relaxing herbal tea", Rachel ordered and the others complied instantly.
Jimmy came very quickly to Teaspoon, who seemed very worried: "I don't understand what the message says but I don't think it's anything good. We absolutely have to find Buck but if the Indians have taken him it won't be easy. How is Bea?"
"She was very worried and fainted. Lou and Rachel are taking care of her", Jimmy replied. "We also called the doctor".
"Damn, in her condition she really didn't need it", commented the marshal.
They returned to the station leaving Burnett in the office.
The doctor said Bea and the baby seemed fine but recommended she get some rest.
"Teaspoon how do we move?" asked Noah.
"We have to look for Buck, but it won't be easy, if he's a prisoner in some camp it will be hard", Teaspoon replied.
"We need to split up and go to each camp", Jimmy proposed.
"It is too dangerous. The only person who could help us is his brother, Red Bear, but it won't be easy to get close to him." Teaspoon pointed out.
"I'll go, they know me and will let me in."
They all turned towards the door: Bea had entered without anyone noticing.
"Honey, what are you doing standing? You need to rest after today's stress, you heard the doctor", Rachel told her, running towards her.
"I'm fine Rachel, I have to think about Buck now, none of you are going to stop me from doing that", Bea replied.
"Bea, you can't think of going to the Kiowa camp alone in your condition", Lou said.
"We cannot do otherwise. Given the tension of recent times, they will never let you enter the camp, they will attack you and we would risk losing some of you too. I have to go alone. They will recognize me and let me in", she replied.
"You would put your baby's life and yours at risk and Buck would never forgive himself", Cody told her.
"I know, but what alternative do we have?" Bea asked.
"Let's do this: let us try and if it goes wrong, we'll do as you say", Kid proposed.
"What if some of you don't make it? At that point neither Buck nor I would ever forgive ourselves", she replied.
"Let's think guys, there has to be an alternative solution", Rachel offered.
"I still maintain that the only way to help Buck is for me to talk to Red Bear", Bea reiterated.
"What if we did as Bea says but we had her back? We could follow her at close range so we could intervene if the need arose", Lou proposed.
"Yes, it could work", Teaspoon admitted.
"I still say it's too dangerous", Rachel insisted.
"Rachel, if I stayed home and something happened, I would never forgive myself and the stress would still be no less. My son's life is in danger anyway", Bea replied with tears in her eyes.
"It seems like a fair compromise", Jimmy admitted.
After discussing it some more, they decided it was the best solution. They packed their bags and all left in a short time. Bea took the carriage to be more comfortable and the others followed her a short distance away, including Teaspoon.
Just before approaching Red Bear's camp, as they had planned, they were attacked by a group of Arapaho warriors. The boys split up: Kid, Jimmy and Cody acted as bait for the Indians, while Noah, Lou, Ike and Teaspoon managed to escape and reach the camp.
When they saw it from afar, Bea told them: "Now I have to go alone, the danger is over. I don't want any more firefights."
The others nodded and Bea headed towards the camp. She was exhausted and felt dizzy, but she didn't want to show it for fear that they wouldn't let her go. She also felt some pain in her belly that worried her, but she knew that the women and the medicine man at the camp would take care of her, she just had to hold on a little longer.
As expected, Bea was recognized by the warriors on guard; with gestures she made it clear that she had to speak to Red Bear and they accompanied her to the boss.
As soon as he saw her, Red Bear approached her worriedly: "Bea, what are you doing here in your condition, alone and with a war going on and where is my brother?"
"I'm here for this Red Bear. I'm not alone, the guys accompanied me and kept their distance so as not to cause problems. They're waiting for me not far from here. Some of them acted as bait for a group of Arapahos who attacked us. We think Buck was captured by the Arapaho or some other tribe. This morning only his horse returned from the race and this was in the mochila" and she gave him the message.
Red Bear read it and blanched.
"Damn it, they took him hostage and if I don't give up my territories as they requested, on their terms, they will kill him", the man said.
Bea staggered and Red Bear had to support her.
"Don't worry. We will be able to free him Bea. You calm down now. I will entrust you to my wife who will take care of you and your baby. I will reach your friends, we will ally with them and we will bring him home. You'll see that everything will be fine..", but he couldn't finish the sentence because Bea lost consciousness.
"Quick, call the women and the medicine man, she's expecting a baby," shouted Red Bear who had picked her up in the meantime. He saw blood staining Bea's dress and his heart broke.
In the Arapaho camp, Buck was chained to a teepee and was unconscious. He woke up suddenly and felt a shooting pain in his chest. He looked around to see if they had started torturing him again but he saw no one except the two warriors who were guarding him: they were arguing and had no weapons in their hands. He couldn't understand the nature of that pain but he had a terrible feeling. He knew he had to find a way to get out of there and back to Bea and their baby and he knew he had to do it soon.