The Young Riders: HICKOK

FOUR

Jimmy dropped the axe in surprise, multiple expressions flashing across his face.

Tess ran to him with outstretched arms. Leaping onto him in an embrace that squeezed the air from his lungs.

He wrapped his arms around her to hold her up. Then slowly set her back down on the ground.
A blush crept up her cheeks when she noticed he didn't have his shirt on.
It lay on the fence a few feet away.

"Are you feeling faint? Do you have a fever? You're pink."
Seeing that he noticed only made it worse.
He held her at arms length, eyeing her over, then turned to the others who had ran up to him panting.

"Why in God's name is she out of bed!? She needs to be resting!" He exploded.

The Kid answered him, saying.
"I'm sorry Jimmy, she got away."

"HOW DID SHE 'GET AWAY' WITH FOUR OF YOU IN THERE?!"

"Settle down J.B. I'm fine, really I feel okay." Tess' soft voice sounded at his shoulder.

Breathing calmer he looked her dead in the eye. "That's the excitement talking. You're going to feel pretty sore for a few days."

"We really are sorry Jimmy. We didn't expect her to do that." Lou said.

"Excuse us for a moment please." Jimmy asked, lifting his shirt back over his head.

Tess stared in shock at the scars that lined his body. A large one on his shoulder in the shape of a star held her attention.

" 'now we're the same.' " She whispered.

"What?" He followed her eyes to the scar. "That was a long time ago. It doesn't mean anything now. And it never did then."

She gasped and stared up into his silver eyes. Tears brimmed her eyes but she refused to let them fall.

"That was the only thing that kept me going in that place! And you say it means nothing?!" She pushed away from him and ran off.

She heard him call her name but kept going. Running into the barn she rounded a corner and sank down into the hay, silently sobbing.

The soft nicker of a horse caught her attention.

She lifted her head and searched the barn until she found where the noise was coming from.

A black horse stood in a stall a few feet away from her. Its head swung from side to side and its hoof beat against the floor.

Tess quietly stood up and staggered over to the creature. Its head jerked back at her presence and she flinched.

"Shhhh. Its okay, I'm not going to hurt you." She gently placed her hand on the soft dark nose of the horse.

"You know, I know how you feel. No one around to comfort you, no one to talk to. Well, now I suppose you've got me." She smoothed her hands along its face, gently gliding up to its ears.

It gave a soft nicker at the contact, pressing its head closer to her.

"You like that don't ya....boy? Yup, all male down there." She chuckled. "You know Jimmy used to be the nicest person. He was never so....without hope, Or feeling. Or so uncaring." She chuckled again.

"You see this scar?" She tugged at the neckline of her riding shirt and pulled it down over her shoulder.

A white scar the same as his rested flat Against her skin.

"I was thrown from my horse the first time I rode. Landed on a broken bottle and it gave me this." She said, a small tear rolled down her cheek at the memory.

"He told me to get back up on the horse and never quit. If only he knew just how hard that is..."

"Anyway, he took the piece of glass and pressed it into his shoulder. I couldn't believe it. His actions shocked me so much I hardly felt the pain of it. And you know what? I got back up. Now we have these matching scars that bound us together when we were younger, but now, it seems to not matter."

She sighed. "I guess I was holding on to something unimportant. Look at me, spilling my stories to a horse! I'm crazy! I've got to be crazy."

She heard the sound of a buggy pulling in and ran outside.

"I'm going to go start supper." She heard someone say.

A group of people was formed around the buggy and was hard to see who was speaking. She recognized a few of them that had been in the bunkhouse when she woke up.

They all started carrying supplies out of the buggy, some to the barn and some to the house.

"Ah, I see you woke up." A scraggly looking old man with a pot belly climbed out of the buggy and walked over to her, tipping his worn grey hat at her.

"Oh come on Teaspoon, you're scaring her." Cody walked up to them with a swag look on his face.

"I ain't scaring her Cody. Your scaring her. Always stalking around and watching people. Now get back to work." He shooed Cody off and turned back to Tess. "We're having dinner soon, but I 'spose you want to clean up first. We can have Rachel draw you a bath after your wound heals, but for now you'll have ta use the bucket."

"Bucket?" She asked.

"Its on the other side of the barn. I'll have Lou take ya over there."
He walked off with a nod and went past the house gate.

A moment later Lou came out with a cloth and bar of soap.

"Its this way." She said, leading Tess to the washing station.