by Charla
The bunkhouse was nearly empty. Kid, Jimmy and Buck were off on one of Teaspoon's "special runs." Cody, Lou and Ike were left to split up the work at the station as well as double up on rides. The tired trio had become irritable; all were more than ready for their fellow riders to return.
Cody snored in a bunk, exhausted from his last run. Cody's snoring was not an unusual occurrence; as a matter of fact, the repetitive sound from across the room often lulled Lou to sleep.
Lou felt the morning sunlight tickling her eyelids open, but she rolled over to sleep a little longer. She had a long run ahead of her in a few hours and wanted as much rest as possible.
The sound of tossing and turning slowly penetrated Lou's dozing. She opened her eyes wide to peer at Cody and Ike, trying to find the source of the noise. Immediately, Lou spotted Ike thrashing in his bunk, apparently in the grips of a nightmare. She watched a moment, to see if he'd calm, but instead, his shuddering only worsened. Lou hopped off down from her own top bunk and padded over to Ike's restless, though supine, body that was twisting beneath his blanket.
Using the empty bottom bunk as a step, Lou reached up and began shaking him, trying to pull him from the terror that was within his mind.
"Ike, wake up," she urged.
Nudging him again, this time more forcefully, she called out louder to him, near his ear, "Ike!"
Unexpectedly, Ike's hand reached out and hit her. The force wasn't enough to hurt her, but it nevertheless knocked her to her bottom on the floor.
By this time, even Cody woke up to all the commotion. He looked down at Lou. "What are ya doing down there?" he asked sleepily.
Lou just shook her head and pointed up at Ike; concern was evident on her face. Cody looked up, at once seeing that Ike was deep within a nightmare.
Cody sighed and crawled out of his warm, cozy bed. He offered Lou a hand up and they both moved to Ike's side. Cody shook Ike, hard. "Hey Ike, wake up."
Ike's eyes opened, wide with fear. He looked around frantically, only to see the faces of two of his friends near him.
'What happened?' he signed the question.
"Dunno exactly. You were having a bad dream," Cody offered, "and woke us up."
"We were worried about ya," added Lou.
Ike shrugged his head and torso, as if trying to clear his brain.
"Don't you remember what you were dreaming?" asked Lou.
Meanwhile, Cody crawled back into his bunk, covering himself with a blanket and closing his eyes. He was asleep before Ike could answer Lou's question.
'I can't,' signed Ike, frustrated. He then realized that he was covered in a sweat, his long johns damp from the perspiration. 'Whatever I was dreaming,' thought Ike, 'I may be glad I can't remember.'
Lou shrugged her shoulders. "Well, you're okay now. I'm gonna go wash up for breakfast; I have a run soon."
As Lou walked away, Ike sat a minute pondering the events. Ike again tried to shake off the uneasy feeling as he prepared for breakfast as well.
Two nights later, the bunkhouse was again full, except for Jimmy, who was out on a run. Mealtime had been full of banter and teasing, stolen looks between Kid and Lou and plenty of good eats cooked by Rachel.
Buck noticed that Ike was a bit withdrawn. Lou had told Buck about the nightmare Ike had had while he'd been gone with Kid and Jimmy and since then, Buck had worried about his friend. Since Ike didn't talk, you couldn't accuse him of being quiet, but Buck could always tell when Ike was being truly 'silent.' Ike did know how to sign and communicate and the bald man was not even doing that these last couple of days.
After dinner, Buck motioned for Ike to join him on the porch. Ike nodded in agreement and followed his friend outside.
"Are you going to tell me what's bothering you?" asked Buck.
Ike shrugged, but still failed to appear nonchalant.
"Does this have anything to do with Ben Rawlings?" Buck questioned, watching Ike carefully for a reaction. Recently, Ike had found Rawlings, a man that rode with the gang responsible for killing Ike's family. Memories and old feelings had overwhelmed Ike, but seeing that Rawlings felt not only deep regret at his actions, but also now had a family of his own, Ike had not been vengeful. Buck admired the strength of his long time friend, but worried that Ike was still harboring anger.
Ike shrugged once again. 'I really don't know,' he signed. 'I can't remember anything from the dream.'
"But it's still haunting you isn't it?" Buck asked.
Ike nodded his head up and down rapidly. Touching his chest, Ike began to sign again. 'I feel uneasy, but I can't pinpoint why.'
Buck put his arm around Ike's shoulders as they turned to walk back into the bunkhouse. "I'm here for you Ike."
"No!" came the loud yell, booming across the bunkhouse.
The riders all began to stir though none were yet completely awake.
"No!" blasted the yell again, its reverberations bouncing off the chest and eardrums of everyone in the room.
"What in the hell?" yelled Kid, startled.
Lou began scurrying to light a candle.
"No! the yell was repeated a third time.
"Who is that?" demanded Cody.
The voice was foreign to their ears, unrecognized by them all.
Buck jumped out of the bottom bunk, looking up at Ike. Ike was thrashing about in the midst of a nightmare, much like Lou had described to him earlier.
Ike's head was frantically turning from side to side, his fists clenching the sheet.
Once again, even louder the word "No!" echoed in the bunkhouse. This time, Buck watched Ike's mouth move and heard the air, erupting from Ike's own lungs and forming the sound.
Lou moved beside Buck, candle in hand. Both stared, mouths agape, as they heard Ike's voice for the first time.
"Should we wake him up?" Lou whispered.
Kid and Cody stood behind them.
"That's Ike talking," Cody stated the obvious, dazed.
Kid shook his head in response to Lou's question. "I don't think so Lou."
"You're right Kid. He's battling something inside him," Buck surmised, "something he must face."
"You think he'll have his voice when he ain't dreaming?" asked Cody.
"Don't know," Buck replied, staring at his friend.
"I hate seeing him so disturbed," Lou admitted.
"If he gets too upset, I'll wake him," Buck agreed.
Moans and mutterings continued to pour from Ike's mouth. The four riders just watched and listened, transfixed.
Once again, Ike yelled "No!" loud enough to fill the room with the clear sound of his voice. Abruptly, Ike's eyes opened and he stared into the brown eyes of his friend, Buck. His gaze then traveled over the candle lit faces of the other riders, the glow making their stares appear eerie in the dark room.
Ike sat up, his entire body shaking.
Lou, Kid and Cody all watched, waiting for Buck to say something. Buck was waiting on his friend to gain his bearings.
"Ike," Buck said softly. "You woke us up."
Ike didn't answer, but felt a tickle in his throat. Deep within his stomach, butterflies bounced off his insides and a strange awareness journeyed up his windpipe and into his throat. Ike swallowed hard, willing the odd feeling away, but it remained.
Then unconsciously clearing his throat, Ike startled at the sound. 'Sound," his mind gasped, 'that was a sound.'
Ike's eyes searched the faces of his friends to see if they had heard it. Buck nodded as he tried to explain. "You were talking in your sleep."
With wide eyes, a look of shock crossed Ike's features.
Lou rushed to dampen a washcloth. She crawled up on the bunk, next to Ike, holding it on his sweat-dampened forehead.
"You really talked," Lou said. "Don't push yourself, if you ain't ready, but I know you can do it again."
"Whatever demons that old gang member stirred up for you, they released your voice," Buck stated with solid certainty.
Ike opened his mouth, but quickly closed it. He longed to use his voice, but fear of failure made him hesitant to even attempt speech.
After some moments of anxious anticipation, Cody planted his hands on his hips. "Fine, if you ain't gonna talk to us, I'm going back to bed. Matter of fact, you can take my chores tomorrow for waking me up," Cody said in a huff.
"No way," asserted Ike. Silence fell on the room at his words, all jolted at Ike's instant rebuttal. Ike covered his mouth, the shock obvious in his wide eyes.
"You can do mine too," Buck grinned.
Clearing his throat carefully, Ike looked into his friend's eyes. "I don't think so Buck."
Lou eyes began to tear as she covered her mouth to keep from squealing.
"That's the first time I've heard you speak my name," Buck stated with pride.
"You're my best friend; it's only right that I say your name first," Ike said, a bit breathlessly. His voice was raspy with lack of use.
Lou reached over, giving her once silent friend a big hug, before climbing down to the floor.
Kid grasped her waist, pulling her near him. "Well, I'll be," Kid sighed.
Ike grinned gleefully. "Kid, why don't you take Lou out on the porch and kiss her?"
Kid cocked an eyebrow. "Already giving advice?"
Ike laughed and the hearty sound was like music to the ears of the other riders. Even Cody beamed. "Just wait 'til I tell Jimmy," he laughed.
"We shouldn't tell him," conspired Kid. "We oughta really confuse him somehow."
The whole room erupted into laughter. Ike jumped off his bunk, energized and excited.
Lou began biting her lip, worried. "Can you 'lose' your voice again?"
Ike turned serious. "I hope not."
"He won't," said Buck with certainty.
"And how do you know?" inquired Cody.
"I just know," shrugged Buck.
The two friends, Ike and Buck, broke into grins. The other riders moved back to their bunks, back to sleep. Meanwhile, Buck and Ike sat at the table, talking for hours.
The sun rose and the pair still sat talking. As the other riders began rising for the day, Cody glared at the two. "Ya'll still up?" he drawled for emphasis.
"I imagine Ike's got a lot of talking to make up for," defended Lou.
"I can tell already, Ike's going to talk our ears off," said Cody, sarcastically, but he was smiling as he said it.
"No one can talk more than you," Kid pointed out.
As the bunkhouse once again filled with laughter, Ike's was the heartiest, the loudest and the most precious. At last, the silence was shattered and the healing had truly begun.
- Ask for a sequel ;-) Nesciri