Chapter One

The next morning, Buck and Lou loaded up and made their way out of the station yard after an early breakfast. Buck was so nervous about the coming trip that he hadn't eaten much. At first he was relieved to find that Lou was unusually quiet as well.

After a few hours on the trail, Lou pulled her mount along side Buck's. "Something bothering you that I can help with?" she asked.

Buck was tempted to say nothing was wrong, but he knew that she'd never believe him. "I'm not sure if you can help or not," he finally replied. "I've been having some dreams that are a bit disturbing," he added quietly, not daring to look at her.

Lou nodded her head. "I think everyone in the bunkhouse knows that," she replied with a slight grin. "You've been rather restless the past few nights."

"Sorry," Buck said, when he realized that his dreams weren't only keeping him awake. "I didn't mean for them to bother everyone."

"We all know that," she said. "We also thought you might want to talk about it with someone, but didn't want to ask. That's why I asked Teaspoon to send you on this run with me instead of Kid."

"You asked him to send me?" Buck was beyond surprised. Kid and Lou didn't get much time alone together, so for her to give up a chance to be with him was really something special. Buck felt both flattered and scared to death. Lou cared about him as a friend that was certain. At the moment, Buck's own feelings were a jumbled mess.

"Have you and Ike talked about it?" she asked.

Buck glanced up at her, surprised at the question.

"This ain't about Ike."

"Oh...I just thought...never mind," Lou blushed, embarrassed about the assumptions she had made.

Buck took a deep breath before asking, "What made you think this involved Ike?"

Lou blushed even more. She didn't wish to offend Buck. "It's just that..." she started, then stopped. After a few seconds she tried again, "The others..."

Buck cut in, "You all thought that Ike and I were involved like you and Kid," he said quietly.

Lou simply nodded. "Cody saw the two of you at the swimming hole the other day," she said as she raised her eyes to look at Buck.

Buck nodded. "I thought I heard someone," he said, meeting Lou's gaze. "That wasn't what it looked like. We weren't..." he stopped speaking when Lou raised her hand.

"You don't need to explain," she said. After a pause, she added, "It's just that your dreams started not too long after that, and they're obviously intimate in nature. I just assumed they involved Ike."

Buck nodded once more. He let the fact that the others were aware of the nature of his dreams sink in before continuing. He spoke quickly and quietly once he decided to tell Lou the truth. "They don't involve Ike," he repeated. "They involve you."

Buck glanced at Lou, trying to gage her reaction to his confession. If he regretted being so honest, it was too late to take it back now.

Lou stared back at him, and opened her mouth to speak. At that moment, something in the nearby bushes spooked the horses. Lou's mount took off as Buck's reared, throwing him in the process. He heard Lou scream as he fell to the ground, and everything went black.

Lou quickly controlled her mount and looked around. Buck was on the ground - not moving. She gathered his horse and then returned to his side. She dismounted and checked Buck over carefully. He didn't seem to have any injuries, but he wasn't awake. When she turned his head she found the problem; he'd hit his head on a hidden tree root.

Lou decided to move him just a little to the side of the trail and make him as comfortable as possible. If he didn't wake up by morning, she'd figure out how to get him into town for some help.

As she sat by his side, she thought over what he'd told her just before the accident. He's having dreams about me, she thought. She didn't know whether to be flattered or offended. She decided to be flattered.

The rest of the night, Lou stayed by Buck's side, and watched for any sign that he was waking up. None came.

He was restless, mumbling in Kiowa, and crying out once when Lou had almost fallen asleep. She did her best to keep him warm, and when he was fitful, she spoke softly to him, reassuring him that everything was alright. It seemed to calm him, but when dawn came, and Buck still lay unconscious, Lou decided that she needed to get him to a doctor.

She managed to build a travois of sorts and get him to the next town.

"I can't understand why he hasn't woken up yet," she said. "It didn't look like he hit that hard."

The doctor finished settling Buck into the bed. "You mentioned that he hadn't been sleeping well the last week or so; perhaps he's just exhausted. Why don't you finish your delivery? I'm sure he'll be fine when you get back in a couple of days."

Lou wasn't sure. Buck didn't look like he was getting any better and he still wasn't resting peacefully. "Are you sure it's alright for me to leave him?" she asked.

"You think he'll wake up any quicker if you sit here and get sick yourself?" asked the doctor.

Lou smiled slightly and shook her head. "I see your point," she said.

"My daughter is real good at keeping restless patients calm," the doctor said. "She'll sit with him as much as he needs." He studied Buck closely a few seconds. "I think what he really needs is to just rest; most people do that best in their own beds. You need to get him home as soon as possible."

Lou decided there wasn't much she could do except take the doctor at his word. She set off to finish the run, and did it in record time. When she got to her destination, she slept for a few hours, changed mounts and headed back to Buck, riding through the night.