The Locket

His face smiled up at them from the gold oval, jerking somewhat as the stage rattled on. His smile was shy, his eyes were wide and expressive. In all, he looked somewhat embarrassed.

"He's handsome," Adele Walters said, winking.

"Nice thing to say in front of your husband." Simon Walters snorted.

Her blue-green eyes twinkled as she closed the locket. "Yeah, he is handsome. I haven't seen him in two-and-a-half years. I'm not even sure where he is."

"He never wrote to you in all this time?" Simon asked.

"Probably didn't know where to find me. Papa sent me away to school straight after it happened."

"What happened?" Adele asked.

"Papa found out about the locket and Simon takin' this photograph, and nears lost it. He tried to trump up charged against Ike, but the Marshal wouldn't oblige."

"I hate to say this Lydia, but Ike may have moved on and forgotten about you." Simon tried to keep the sting from his tone.

Lydia Mitchell blinked back tears. "I hope not, because I sure haven't forgotten about Ike McSwain."

"We've got a letter from the McMullens over in Fort Kearney. With most of the soldiers off fightin', they have an excess stock of horses they can't afford to look after. They say they're all good stock. But they're lookin' to see them." Louise Andrews walked into the kitchen, holding a letter.

Sitting at the table, Kid glared up at his wife over his cup of coffee. "You know you ain't supposed to ride. You might hurt the baby."

Lou rolled her eyes. "Kid, you sound like Doc. Seyton. I'm fine. Besides, I took the buckboard." She leaned down and kissed his cheek before sitting next to him.

"So the McMullens want to sell their horses. How much are they askin'?" Buck Cross asked.

"Well, McMullen reckons they'll only ask for a fair price, but you'll have to judge that for yourselves. That is if you want to check it out."

"If they've got some good stock for a fair price, I don't think we can afford not to," Emily Metcalfe put a mug of coffee in from of Lou.

"But can we afford to buy any? Until the mares foal, we'll be pretty short."

"We still have the last of my money," Emily said.

"You save that for Ike," Buck countered. "We might have enough."

"It's worth takin' a look at these horses anyway. We need a few more mares. You want to come to Kearney, Buck?"

"Think I'll let you choose all the horses?" Buck slapped his friend on the shoulder.

"Are you takin' any of the men along?"

"Afraid not, Em. You and Lou won't be able to handle all the work here on your own. Not with baby Ike and Lou..." Kid trailed off as Lou fixed him with a mocked glare.

"I can work, you know," she said.

"I know, but you are supposed to take it easy."

Lou opened her mouth as if to argue, then rolled her eyes again, deciding not to bother. "When are you guys leavin' for Fort Kearney?" She asked instead.

Kid glanced at Buck. "Tomorrow mornin?" Buck shrugged.

"I guess we'd better get a good night's sleep then." Lou stretched.

"We? " Buck and Kid said in unison.

Lou grinned mischievously. "Just kiddin'."

Without warning, the stagecoach suddenly lurched, then rattled even faster. Adele looked around wildly and gripped Simon's arm. "What's happening?"

Lydia glanced out the window, then up at her old friend. "Think we're bein' chased?"

"Probably. Either bushwhackers or Indians."

"Indians?" Adele blanched.

Lydia frowned. "I thought the Omaha were friendly. They don't usually chase after stages."

"I've heard of wagon train massacres," Adele said faintly.

"Yeah, but wagon trains are slower."

"Lydia's right. We're bein' chased by bushwhackers," Simon glanced out the window. "And it looks like they've caught us."

"What do you think they want?"

"Gold, probably."

"But we don't have any!" Adele protested wildly.

"But they don't know that," Lydia pointed out.

By this point the outlaws had caught up with the stage. They were after gold all right, gold and anything else they could get. They were ruthless men who would just as soon kill to get what they want. The lead outlaw Daniels, drew his rifle and shot the driver and guard, while one of his men leapt from the appaloosa he was riding on to one of the team horses in a successful attempt to slow the team down.

At the sound of the gunshots, Adele screamed and fainted. Lydia watched as Simon bent over his wife, gently slapping her cheeks in an effort to revive her; and she wondered if Adele was better off unconscious rather than watching what was about to happen. For Lydia had no doubt that they were all about to be killed. Suddenly Lydia jerked upright. The locket. Her hand closed around the golden object. She could not let the bushwhackers get their hands on Ike's last gift to her. She quickly removed the chain from around her neck, unbuttoned the top of her dress, dropped the locket and chain into her corset and re-buttoned; just before the stage lurched to a stop.

A dirty face appeared in the window, leering at the occupants of the coach. Lydia suppressed a shudder as Daniels bright green eyes appraised her, glancing up and down. Simon stopped tending to Adele for a moment to glare at Daniels as he opened the door and forcefully yanked Lydia from her seat. Simon tossed his pouch of coins at Daniels. "There, take it and leave us alone."

Daniels deftly caught the pouch and pushed Lydia to the ground, then reached into the stagecoach to grab Adele. Simon moved between his wife and the outlaw, and drew a small derringer pistol. As he cocked the gun, another outlaw, Loran, fired through the window on the other side of the stage, hitting Simon in the side. Simon fell, his trigger finger reflexing to fire a shot directly into Daniels' forehead, killing him instantly. The sound of the shots brought Adele around. She started screaming as soon as she came to, looking directly at Loran.

"Could you shut her up?" Matthews yelled as he retrieved his appaloosa. Loran shrugged and shot Adele, then joined the fourth outlaw on the roof of the stage, searching through the luggage.

Momentarily forgotten, Lydia had frozen when her friends were shot. Now she picked up her skirts and ran, not caring where. She had not gotten far before Matthews noticed her and rode after her to pick her up and place her across the saddle in front of him.

He grinned up at his friends as he rode back over to them. "We've got a spirited lass her. It would be a shame to kill her, we could have some fun with her."

Loran shrugged again. "So take her with us. Just make sure she don't make no noise."

Matthews grinned lecherously, brought his fist up and hit Lydia on her head, instantly awarding her with darkness.

Buck and Kid had ridden to Fort Kearney without incident and were greeted by Captain McMullen and his wife Mary, both wearing somber expressions.

"What's up? Don't tell us we've rode all this way for nothin'." Buck semi-joked as they dismounted.

The tall, dark captain sighed. "If only it were that. No, the horses are all here and ready for you to look over. No, we have a little problem."

"Little!" Mary McMullen retorted.

"Anything we can help you with?" Kid asked.

McMullen hesitated before answering. "There's a band of Southern Sympathizers raidin' in the territory, holdin' up stages and the like. Probably takin' advantage of the lack of military support in these parts. They need to be stopped." McMullen stared at Kid for a moment, as if daring him to protest. But the Kid said nothing, so the captain continued. "There's not much you can do, just keep an eye out. But forget about that for a moment. You boys must be tired and hungry. Come inside and have somethin' to eat. You can look at the horses later."

As they had been more or less expected, Mary had a fairly large -- if simple -- meal waiting for the two riders, who were suppressing smiles at being called "boys." They were content to sit and eat for the time being, making small talk with the captain and his wife. Kid noted that the conversation steered clear of the situation with the raiders and the War in general; he had a sinking feeling that the good captain just may not trust him, being from Virginia and all. Kid sighed inaudibly. He had face this suspicion a lot of late, as the War was moving into its second year, and his slight southern accent made him a target.

Neither Captain McMullen, nor his wife noticed Kid's discomfort, but Buck, who knew him better did. To draw the dinner conversation away from topics that seemed to end up at the War, he asked what the McMullens' wanted for the horses. This started some friendly haggling that resulted in them going out to inspect the stock.

There were some beautiful horses out in that corral, including a magnificent-looking Arabian mare that both the Kid and Buck immediately fell in love with. But as the pXp horse ranch was only just getting on its feet, they only had so much money to spare, and Captain McMullen's priced were a little steep. After some more haggling and a good night's sleep, Kid and Buck set out the next morning considerably poorer but in possession of an ungelded colt and three good mares -- including the Arabian.

Meanwhile things weren't going so well for Lydia Mitchell. Matthews had hit her so hard that she was unconscious until well into the next day. When she finally came to, she found herself in a room that was empty except for herself and Matthews. She was disoriented for a few minutes, with flashes from the previous day playing through her mind, ending with the memory of her friends being shot. Suddenly she remembered what had happened.

"Where am I?" She asked frantically. "Why am I here?"

"Now I can't tell you where you are, but..." Matthews grinned lecherously. "I think you know exactly why you're here."

Watching him slowly unbutton his breeches, Lydia fought her panic to ask nonchalantly: "Where are the others?"

"Don't worry, lass. They'll have their turn." Matthews reached out and stroked her cheek with a gentleness he hitherto seemed incapable of.

Lydia flinched away from the gesture. "Their turn?"

"What do you think we kept you alive for?" Just as Matthews settled down on top of her, she brought her knee up between his legs. He doubled over in pain, making it that much easier to push him off her. Lydia scrambled off the bed and looked around. She needed to find a weapon of some sort. She needed to make sure Matthews could not follow her, and stop her.

By this time Matthews had recovered and was determined to make Lydia pay. He came at her, menacing, backing her against a wall. Grabbing the first thing she could lay her hands on, Lydia smashed an oil lamp over Matthews head. The outlaw slumped to the floor. In morbid fascination, Lydia watched as blood seeped from his head over the floor. "You should have killed me when you had the chance," she muttered. Then, realizing that she had to get away before the rest of the gang came back, she fled.

Lydia had no idea how long she had been wandering along the road. She was extremely tired, but thankful that the other outlaws hadn't stumbled across her. It was not long, however, before she started wishing for somebody -- anybody -- to find her and help her.

Her prayers seemed to have been answered when she saw a man in his mid-thirties ride up on a strawberry roan. He appraised her for a moment through dark, for boding eyes before speaking. "Are you in some kind of trouble, ma'am?"

Lydia smiled and briefly recounted the events leading up to that point. "Could you please take me to the nearest Marshal so I can report this?"

The man smiled down at her and held out his hand. "Come on, I'll take you to Lone Tree." Lydia took his hand and he pulled up on the roan behind him. "If I may be so bold to ask, what is your name? I'd like to be able to call you somethin' other then ma'am."

Lydia blushed at his formality. "Lydia Mitchell."

"Pleased to meet you, Miss Mitchell. I'm Sholto McCaffrey."

"The pleasure's mine, Mr. McCaffrey... Sholto?"

McCaffrey shrugged. "It's a long story."

Lydia could not help thinking what good fortune it was to have met McCaffrey, but that soon faded when she realized that he had no intention of taking her to see the marshal. At first he seemed real nice, taking her back to his place (which was above the saloon) to let her rest and freshen up before talking to the marshal. But McCaffrey kept just making excuses for her not to see him. When Lydia finally asked him why, he said that she was just a runaway who needed a place to stay... and who should stay away from the marshal. No amount of persuading and truth could change his mind. McCaffrey said that he would protect Lydia and give her a job.

"What type of job?" Lydia asked suspiciously two nights after McCaffrey had taken her in.

"As a saloon girl. I'll give you a job here." Lydia looked aghast at the thought, so the saloon owner hastened to continue. "You ain't gonna find anything else. It's hard for women out here and you won't have any respectability left after bein' here the last few days." The young woman had a sneaking suspicion that McCaffrey had engineered it that way.

"Besides," McCaffrey went on, "you need to earn your keep." He tossed a pretty blue dress at Lydia and told her to put it on. She waited for him to leave, but he had no intention of doing so. Finally she just turned and hurriedly donned the dress. When she turned back around, McCaffrey noticed her locket, which she had put back on. "What's that?"

"Somethin' a very good friend gave to me. Somethin' I won't part with, at any cost."

"Really?" He advanced towards her. "I think that I'll take it as payment for everythin' I've done for you already. Then I'll teach you how to do your job. You're a very pretty young lady."

Lydia backed away as she realized what he meant.

On their way back to the ranch, Kid and Buck had met up with Wilson and Durand, two of the men who worked at the pXp. They were on their way back from an auction where they had sold two unbroken colts and a filly. Buck and the Kid had been riding all day, and they were grateful to relinquish their horses to Wilson and Durand when they offered to take them. The hired men went back to the ranch, while Kid and Buck took a detour to Lone Tree Valley for a quick drink at the saloon before going home.

As they pulled up and dismounted, they could hear yelling in one of the rooms above the saloon. "I wonder what's goin' on?" Kid asked.

Buck snorted. "McCaffrey's probably goin' at one of his girls. Come on, let's forget about it." There was no love lost between McCaffrey and Buck Cross.

Just then, they heard a loud slap, and they saw Lydia stumble out onto the balcony. The instant he saw her, Buck was struck by how familiar she seemed, but he had no chance to dwell on that feeling, for he heard her yell "I'm not givin' you the locket, McCaffrey, and I won't be one of your girls."

To Buck and Kid's surprise, Lydia strode purposefully to the edge of the balcony and jumped down. She landed awkwardly, hitting her head, and lay still. Buck gently turned her over. "Good Lord," he breathed. "It's Lydia!"

Onto to Chapter 2