They called him "Wild Bill". Not many people got to know the man that people had come to know as the fastest draw. Somewhere deep inside there was a regular man. The man that wanted friendship, trust and most of all love. He had very few friends but the ones he had were his treasures. He would die for them if need be. Under that tough exterior was a man so full of passion that he could not hide it all the time. It was there just waiting to come out at the right time. It was the late winter of 1860 and one of the coldest nights since I had left my home. I had wondered into Rock Creek and found myself with no money and no where to go. After leaving a mother who just didn't care and a stepfather who beat me all the time, this was better to me than what I had left. I took a peak into the saloon through the swinging doors. People were in there drinking, eating and having such a good time. Unaware that I was anywhere around, I just stood there wishing that I was inside where it was warm and I could eat. I slowly sat down on the bench beside the door to the saloon. My mind began to wonder to another place and time. A place I had dreamed of all my life. A place where I could be happy and live without the fear of being beaten. I hadn't realized how cold it was until someone shook my shoulder. It was a man, a kind looking man. He could see how I was shivering and ask me if I wanted to warm up. I told him I had no money and that I just couldn't go into the saloon. He gently took my hand and we walked across the street. He had taken me to the sherriff's office. I stood by the fire and warmed my cold body. He asked me to stay there until he could get back and I agreed. In a few minutes he returned with some stew and biscuits. As I sat there and tried not to make a pig out of myself, I noticed that this man had a rough look about him but at the same time there was a gentleness that I had never seen in a man before. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ After my belly was full and I had warmed up, I thanked him for his kindness. He asked if I had a place to stay for the night or if I was going back out in the cold. I began to tell him of my unfortunate circumstances. He listened to my every word and I could tell he really felt my pain with me. After cleaning up the dishes that I had eaten out of, he asked me if I would come with him to the station. I didn't know what to do, but I knew that I didn't want to sleep out in the cold that night. Surely he would take me somewhere safe. As I looked in his eyes, I could see the sincerity in his words. As we approached the house at the very end of the town I could see the station he was talking about, it was the pony express station. He took me inside the house and introduced me to Rachel. He told her of my bad luck and she was more than happy to have me stay in the extra room upstairs. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ I met all the other riders the next morning and also the man they called Teaspoon. He was the station manager but also the town's marshal. Never had I met such warm, welcoming people. It was during breakfast that I found out that the man that had come to my rescue was none other than "Wild Bill" Hickok. I had heard stories of the steely eyed gunfighter, but I had never dreamed I would meet him much less be saved by him. He wasn't at all like the stories I had heard. My one night stay turned into a regular job at the station. I was hired on by Teaspoon to help Rachel with her chores. She did not have the time to do all that needed to be done there since she had taken on the teaching job. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ As the days grew warm and spring was fastly approaching, Jimmy and I were becoming inseperable. He was like the big brother I had never had. We spent all our free times together and he had even taken me to meet his family in Kansas. It wasn't long before the war had seperated us. How I missed him so very much. The pony express had closed down and all the riders had either gone back to Sweetwater or had joined in the war efforts. I had stayed in Rock Creek to work at the local bank. I knew Jimmy would know how to reach me there. I heard from him from time to time and he told me of the duties he had. How he longed for the war to be over and how he wanted to be back out west. He never liked change that much and the world and the wild west as we knew it was changing with every day that passed. After the war was over, Jimmy came back to Rock Creek for a while. But he didn't stay long. It just wasn't the same and he had another calling. One that would make him more of a legend than he already was. Towns all over were calling for his services as a lawman. He would go to a town and straighten it out, then move onto another that was wilder than the one he left behind. Through all those times he never forgot me. I would get a letter at least twice a month from him telling me of his work. The last marshal job he had was in Abilene. He had faced down and successfully outdrew an outlaw when his deputy and close friend, Mike Williams walked up behind him. In less than a second, he turned and shot him. Jimmy never was the same after that. He traveled with Cody in his Wild West show but longed for the west instead of the city life that came with acting in Cody's show. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ The last time I saw him was when he came to Rock Creek to give me away at my wedding. He was just as handsome as the first night I ever laid eyes on him. He had aged ever so gracefully and his shoulder length hair seemed to flow like a velvet ribbon. He had grown a mustache, one that I can say I didn't like to much, but he said it gave him character. We talked over all the times that had passed and how we cherrished the memories. There seemed to be a sadness about him that I could not put my finger on. He had always carried the weight of all our problems on his back. It was almost as if he had outlived his time and was ready to go onto another place, a place where he could roam the open plains again and reclaim the wild west. He talked about not ever marrying and had told me of a woman he was courting. Her name was Agnes Lake. He had met her years ago, but at the time she was married. Her husband had long since died and they had started courting one another. His last words to me was of good luck in my marriage, how he loved me, and how he was going to wed Agnes and then go to the Black Hills in the Dakota territory and pan for gold. I'll never forget how splendid and graceful he looked as he mounted his horse and rode off into the sunset that evening. It was the last time I would ever see my best friend and confident. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ I received an invitation to his wedding but was to far along in my pregnancy to attend. It was only two short weeks later that I got his letter telling me he had gone to look for gold. Though he loved his new wife, he could not stand to be tied down, he felt the strong urge to find a town that was wild, that needed taming. And that he did in Deadwood. It was a lawless town and begging for the likes of "Wild Bill" Hickok As I lay in bed holding my first born, I heard of the news that "Wild Bill" had been shot in the back of the head. He was dead and the man that had killed him had been found not guilty. How could this happen? How could someone just shoot Jimmy in the head? How could this coward just take away the life of someone I loved? How I hated this man, the man that took away my Jimmy. It was just so unfair that a man that had such a passion for living had to die this way. I decided right then as I held my newborn son close to me that I would name him James Butler and I would call him Jimmy. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ It took almost a year for Jack McCall to be hanged for the murder of Jimmy. Justice seemed to take forever, but when McCall was finally hanged, I felt somewhat at ease. I still miss Jimmy. There are days that I just sit outside and look to the fading sky. I feel him around me at times and those times are when I'm more at peace. So many had only heard of the legend "Wild Bill" Hickok and took it at it's worth. Not many knew the man, the real man that I just called Jimmy. Drop me a note and let me know what you think!