Ike smiled his thanks and asked, *Where’s Teaspoon?*

The man looked apologetically at Ike. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I still ain’t quite got the hang of your talking. Where’s Buck so he can help me understand?”

Ike fought back the frustration he felt and walked across the room. He picked up a pencil and one of the papers the deputy had been holding. He wrote, “Where’s Teaspoon? I need to talk to him about something important.”

The man read the note and replied, “He went out to Miss Dunne’s to eat; seems Cody is here for a visit.”

Ike nodded and turned to leave. He quickly remounted and made his way across town to Rachel’s house. He didn’t bother with knocking as he entered the house and made his way to the sitting room. He heard Teaspoon talking as he walked.

“I’m extra glad you’re here, Cody. I’m thinking I may need your tracking skills. You think I could borrow you for a day or two?”

“I can ask,” Cody said. “Why?”

“Ike and Buck ain’t back yet; they’re over four days late. I…” he stopped speaking when Rachel stood and ran across the room.

“I’m so glad to see you,” she said. “We were just talking about getting Cody to go look for you.” She let him go and glanced behind him. “Where’s Buck?”

Ike took a deep breath and began to sign rapidly. *He was injured at the fort so I took him to the Kiowa village because it was closer and he was hurt badly; I didn’t think I could get him home alive.*

“He still there?” asked Cody.

Ike nodded. *I just came to get a few of his things and let you know we were safe. I didn’t want you to go to the fort and be told something different.* He glanced at Cody before continuing, *The soldiers there hurt him because he refused to tell them were the Kiowa village was. I’m not sure why.*

Teaspoon looked at Cody. “You have any idea why the army would suddenly care about Buck taking them to the Kiowa?”

Cody looked at the ground before answering. “There’s been a bit of trouble of late, maybe they thought…”

Teaspoon simply shook his head. “Could you make sure they get a message?”

Cody nodded.

“If they ever do anything like this again, I’ll personally come down there and punish them all.” He stood and went to where Ike was standing.

“You alright?”

Ike nodded. *Just tired,* he said. * I’d like to gather Buck’s things, clean up, and go to bed. I promised I’d get back to him as soon as I could.*

Teaspoon nodded.

As Ike turned to leave, Rachel spoke up. “You go get things ready and while you’re taking a shower I’ll fix you some supper.”

*Thank you,* Ike said. *That would be nice.*

He made his way to the old bunk house that he and Buck still shared. It was eerily quiet as he entered. It still took him by surprise to see it divided into the two smaller rooms – one for himself and one for Buck. He smiled as he went into his room and gathered all the things he needed. He once more wondered how upset Rachel would be if she found out that more often than not both rooms were not used in the evening.

He placed his things in one bundle and Buck’s in another. He then returned the items that should have been in Buck’s room to their proper place just incase Teaspoon or Rachel decided to clean things up as a homecoming surprise. He could tell no one had been in here since they’d left because everything was just like they’d left it – a comfortable mess.

After gathering their belongings Ike made his way to the shower and quickly cleaned up. He placed his packages in the barn next to his horse and then went back over to Rachel’s. She had a whole meal waiting for him. As he ate, Teaspoon sat patiently waiting so he could find out more about what had happened.

Ike thanked Rachel and turned to Teaspoon. *Where’s Cody?* he asked.

“I thought it might be a good idea for him not to be here,” Teaspoon said. “I don’t want to have to hold back my opinion of his fellow soldiers, but I also don’t wish to upset him by expressing them aloud.”

Ike nodded. He knew Teaspoon wanted him to tell what had happened, and he once more found himself in the position of having to explain that he really didn’t know. *When I found him,* Ike said, *Buck didn’t want to stay at the fort. I knew he wasn’t up to the trip back here so I took him to Red Bear. He’s doing fine, but still needs to rest and won’t be able to ride for about a month.*

Teaspoon had sat quietly while Ike told his tale. “You have no idea what set them off?” he asked.

*We ran into a couple of braves on the way there. They were looking for buffalo. The men at the fort seemed to think that Buck and them was plotting something, but…* he paused and then shrugged.

Teaspoon nodded. “After you left the room, Cody said there had been some raids out that way. The Kiowa were suspected of being behind them; seems that fort had lost some men on a routine scouting mission the week before I sent you there.” He paused. “I’m real sorry, Son. I had no idea. I would have sent Johnson if I’d known.”

Ike nodded. *I know,* he said. He looked at the older man who had been like a father to him these past two years. He saw a pain in the man’s eyes that he wished he could make disappear – he knew that somehow this latest message was responsible for some of it.

Rachel sat down next to Teaspoon and rested her hand on his shoulder. She looked over at Ike, “You sure Buck will want to come back to us?” she asked voicing the concern that Teaspoon had expressed earlier as Cody had left.

Ike shrugged. *I think so,* he said. *He asked me to come back to wait with him; I don’t think he would have done that if he was planning on staying there.*

Teaspoon smiled. “That’s good news,” he said. “I don’t think I could handle losing another of my boys.” He stood. “I guess you want to get to bed so you can get up early and head back.”

Ike nodded. *I’m just going to sleep out in the barn,* he said. *I already have everything out there, and that way I can just get up and go without bothering anyone.*

Teaspoon simply nodded. Ike shook his hand and hugged Rachel before turning in. He was up early the next morning and on his way before the sun had cleared the horizon.