Teaspoon watched as the red sky slowly turned crimson over the horizon. He had been up before sunrise, desperately trying to figure out what to say to Buck. He had played out the scene numerous times and yet, in his heart, he knew nothing would be as he planned. Well, however, he said it, there was one thing he needed to do first.

He needed to apologize.

A sound from the bunkhouse made him turn around. True to the boy’s (clarifying that it’s Buck) habit, he could see Buck leave the bunkhouse for the first chores of the morning. Having waited for that moment, Teaspoon took a deep breath and headed after the boy to the barn.

“Morning, Buck,” he said gently as he entered.

Buck quickly turned and looked at him suspiciously.

Teaspoon walked up to him with a thin smile on his lips. “I need to talk…” he said.

“I won’t go near Rawnie again,” Buck interrupted him curtly. “There’s no need for you to tell me again.”

Teaspoon cringed at his words, for the first time realizing just how much he had hurt his Indian rider the day before.

“I wasn’t going to tell you again,” he said. “I came to apologize for what I did yesterday. I was out of line, and it wasn’t my intention.”

Buck shook his head and looked apprehensively at Teaspoon. “You don’t have to apologize,” he said. “I understand.”

Teaspoon stared incomprehensively at him. “What are you talking about?”

“Nothing,” Buck mumbled and turned away, scared he had said too much.

Teaspoon placed his hand on Buck’s shoulder and turned him around. “You think this has to do with you being part Indian?” he asked.

Buck shrugged. He had no wish to enter into that discussion.

“You’re wrong,” Teaspoon stated boldly. “Buck there’s something you need to know.” He hesitated with his next words but before he could continue, Kid walked through the door. “We’ll talk about this later,” Teaspoon promised and left.

He stopped just outside the barn and wiped his brow. This was going to be much harder than he ever had anticipated.

***

That evening Rawnie noticed Buck standing alone by the corral. She walked hesitantly up to him, not sure on how he would react.

“Buck,” she said tentatively.

He turned around to face her before he immediately turned away.

“You shouldn’t be here,” he stated.

“Why not?” she asked baffled.

“I promised Teaspoon I would stay away from you. I don’t want to get you or me into trouble, so you better leave. Besides I’ve got chores to do.” He quickly left before she could reply.

Rawnie frowned and looked after him. Teaspoon hadn’t told him, that much was obvious to her. She quickly scanned the premises for the stationmaster. By now she was quite familiar with the station and its surroundings and when she didn’t see him, she headed to the back of his shed. There she found him carefully polishing a bridle and softly whistling. She stood before him with her hands on her hips.

“What?” he muttered and looked up at her. “Rawnie? Is there anything wrong?”

“Plenty!” she replied. “Why haven’t you told Buck yet?”

Teaspoon put down the bridle. “It’s not so easy,” he tried to explain.

“Well, I’m not having him avoiding me.” She stared at him and played her trump card. “If you don’t talk to him, I’ll tell Emma.”

Teaspoon bent his head as he tried to hide his smile. Emma had became the young woman’s mentor, mother and idol in a very short time, and he was sure Rawnie strongly believed Emma could do anything.

“I will talk to him,” he promised.

“Now. He’s in the barn. I saw him enter.”

“Now hold on a minute, Rawnie…”

“Now.”

She stared determined at him and he sighed. Slowly he got to his feet as he realized he could no longer avoid the confrontation with his Indian rider.

“Now,” he muttered. “Will that be to your satisfaction?”

Her smile told him more than words and he started towards the barn. She was right though, he pondered as he walked. He had postponed telling Buck, unsure about how the boy would react. He had come to like Buck, to like all of the boys and he hated the thought of losing one of them. Telling Buck the truth might very well end in the boy losing his trust in Teaspoon and leave. Teaspoon wasn’t sure neither Emma nor Rawnie completely understood this.