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IntroductionThis story is about life after the Pony Express. |
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HICKOK Jimmy - Hannah *Jasper *Ellie *Olivia *Bonnie |
McCLOUD Kid - Lou *Nick *Kitty *Hunter |
CROSS Buck - Jennifer *Sally *Ike *Lilly |
Part I
Chapter One
Sally Cross bit her words back. It was no good, she knew that. Her words were useless against his words. Brooks Malloy, her tormentor knew just what to say in order to hurt her and he did it on an almost daily basis.
Brooks lifted a lock of her thick black hair, "So where is he?" he taunted her. "Where’s Jasper?"
Sally looked longingly at the schoolhouse, where Jasper Hickok was inside receiving his punishment. Jasper was always in trouble, for various infractions, talking, passing notes, you name it - Jasper had probably been punished for it.
She wondered what punishment Miss Dunne had meted out this time. Usually she made him write an essay. Jasper had an imagination like nobody Sally had ever met. He always made up the best stories, but he could never seem to be able to put his thoughts down on paper. Sally often tried to help him with that. She would try to write down the words Jasper told her, but it never quite came out right. Her words never captured Jasper’s stories adequately. Jasper frequently lamented the fact that Miss Dunne made him write so many essays. He often wished that she would just let him do sums, something he was more than able to do.
Jasper was also frequently punished for fighting. Sally knew that was why Brooks for bothering her now, because Jasper wasn’t there to make him eat his words. Even though Jasper was almost a head smaller and ten pounds lighter, he had never lost a fight with Brooks or with anybody for that matter. With his lighting quick reflexes and tenacious attitude, Jasper was a formidable opponent.
Suddenly Jasper bounded out of the schoolhouse, he glanced in Sally’s direction and immediately started toward her. Sally didn’t want Jasper to get punished again because of her, as he had so often in the past. She quickly tripped Brooks, so he fell heavily on the ground. She then grabbed a thatch of his blonde hair
"Careful Brooks," Sally warned. "You know what us Injuns are good for." She made a scalping motion, then quickly released Brooks before Jasper arrived.
Brooks quickly scrambled to his feet and pushed the girl down, "Stay down you dirty Injun, if you know what’s good for you."
Before Sally could get up, Jasper slammed his fist into Brooks’ face. As Sally pushed herself up, she saw the look of Jasper’s face, he almost looked happy. He always got that smile, before he did something like that. On the outside, Jasper Hickok was just like his father. He looked just like him and possessed many of his mannerisms. But inside he was his mother’s son, a dreamer, who almost always looked on the bright side of life.
As Brooks went running to the schoolhouse, holding his bloody nose, Jasper held out his hand to Sally. "You alright?" he asked.
Sally took his hand, "Yeah." She saw Brooks enter the schoolhouse and a few minutes later she saw Miss Dunne come marching out. She was heading straight toward Jasper.
"Jasper," Rachel said sternly, catching him by the ear. "You know better than to be out here fighting."
"I know," Jasper said, trying to sound contrite, but unable to actually feel even an ounce of sorrow for what he had done.
Rachel sighed. She quickly looked over the situation and realized immediately what had happened. That awful Brooks Malloy had been bothering Sally again. She was about at the end of her rope with that boy. She had talked to Brooks and his parents any number of times, but to no avail. Neither Brooks nor his parents seemed to think there was anything wrong with his behavior. In fact, they had seen fit to question why a breed like Sally Cross was even allowed in school.
Rachel frowned at Jasper, "You’ll be doing an extra page of sums for me tonight, young man."
"Yes Ma’am," Jasper replied. He kept his face serious, until Miss Dunne went back to the schoolhouse. He then broke out in a smile. "Come on," he said, tugging on Sally’s hand. "I got to show you something."
Sally went with him happily. She would have gone to the moon if he had asked. She knew that such thoughts were stupid, especially since she was only eleven and Jasper was twelve. But she didn’t care, she had been in love with him for as long as she could remember. Sally considered Jasper her reward, compensation for all she had lost and all the hurt she still suffered.
Chapter Two
Sally sat on Kitty McCloud’s bed, patiently allowing her friend to fix her hair.
"So what do you think?" Kitty asked, handing Sally a mirror.
Sally gave her friend a weak smile. No matter what Kitty did Sally couldn’t ever hold a candle to her. Mary Katherine, Kitty to her friends was easily one of the most beautiful girls she had ever seen. Even at ten years of age, it was easy to see that Kitty, with her father’s blue eyes and dark curls, was a going to be a striking woman. Sally glanced at Kitty’s figure, feeling slightly envious when she saw that her friend was already starting to develop. It was obvious that she would be a buxom young woman, while Sally, a year older than Kitty, had as many curves as a stick.
Sally studied herself in the mirror, frowning at the reflection. She knew she would never come close to being as beautiful as Kitty. Her dark eyes were much too big for her small face, while her nose was too long and her mouth too generous. She despaired of ever being beautiful, like her mother, Jennifer Tomkins was.
Kitty saw her friend’s face and took the mirror away. She never could understand why Sally didn’t see what everyone else did, but she decided that it was because she believed the awful things Brooks and his horrid friends said.
"Girls," Kitty’s mother, Lou McCloud called up. "I made some cookies. Are you hungry?"
Giggling the two girls rushed downstairs, eager to eat the fresh baked cookies Lou had made. As Sally took a bite of her cookie, she smiled at Lou. Ever since her mother died, five years ago, Lou had become a kind of surrogate mother to her. In fact between the Hickok clan and the McClouds, Sally felt like she had three families, something she was eternally grateful for. Her father, Buck Cross, had crawled into a shell after her mother had died giving birth to her youngest sister, Lilly, although one would ever guess it to look at him. From all appearances, Buck seemed to be the man he had always was. But Sally saw him when he sat by the fire for hours, just staring at it. It seemed that when her mother had left them, she had taken her father’s heart with her.
A few minutes later, thirteen-year-old Nick McCloud entered with Ike, Sally’s nine-year-old brother close on his heels. Both boys began devouring the cookies on the table. Sally glanced at the two boys, struck by how much Nick looked like his mother, except that he was already taller and heavier than Lou. While Ike with his dark eyes and black hair, like Sally, resembled his father. Soon the baby of the McCloud family began to wail, four-year-old Hunter was feeling quite left out, as he was the only one without a cookie.
Sally lightly slapped her brother’s hand away, as he reached for his third cookie, "That’s enough." She then handed little Hunter one.
Ike scowled at her.
Sally slid off the stool, she was perched on and took her brother’s hand, "Thank you Aunty Lou, but I think it’s time me and Ike went home now."
Lou wiped her hands on the towel she held and hugged the two children. "I have a casserole for you to take home," she told them.
"Thank you," Sally said as she accepted the dish.
When they arrived home, she found her father in the barn, tending to the horses he was raising.
"Supper’s ready," Sally called out. She waited a few minutes, then tried to get her father’s attention again. "Pa."
Buck slowly turned around, pulling himself together. He didn’t want Sally to see him like this. So once again he carefully hid his pain and faced his daughter, putting on a false mask of joy. "I’m coming," he said, a shade too brightly.
As Buck shut the barn door, he took his daughter by the hand and walked with her to the house. He could see Ike setting the table and Lilly was already sitting in her chair, eagerly waiting for dinner to be served.
Sally looked up into her father’s face. She hated how he was always trying to hide his feelings. But she didn’t know what else to do, so she did the same. "You hungry Pa? Aunty Lou sent over a casserole."
Chapter Three
"Done," Jasper said, tossing his paper at his mother, Hannah.
Hannah pushed her curly red hair away from her face and checked over her oldest child’s work, while her girls, nine-year-old Ellie, six-year-old Olivia finished their own homework. Three-year-old Bonnie sat happily in her chair banging a spoon against a pot.
Hannah didn’t know how Jasper or anybody else managed to be able think in this bedlam, but they did. Jasper’s work was all correct. She handed her son back his paper, "Nice job," she told him.
Jasper grinned at her. "Can I go out for a while?"
"Tell me first about school. How much trouble did you get in today?"
Jasper continued to smile, "Wasn’t too bad today. Just had to stay in for half of recess."
"Why?"
"It wasn’t my fault," Jasper protested. "Nick told a joke and I laughed."
"And that was it?" Hannah asked warily.
"That’s it."
"What about these sums?"
"Oh," Jasper said in an offhand manner. "I had to do some extra work ‘cause I punched Brooks."
"Again?" Hannah shouted. But she didn’t say anything else. She would have liked to punch Brooks herself. She had never seen such a mean spirted boy. He and his band of thugs went out of their way to hurt poor little Sally, like she hadn’t suffered enough in her short life. Hannah had tried to get her husband to do something about it, but Jimmy kept telling her that he couldn’t do anything, since no laws were being broken. But nevertheless, he had tried talking to Brooks’ parents. Hannah recalled that night. Her husband had stormed home in a complete rage. It was all Hannah could do to keep Jimmy from shooting the whole family. Since then, Jimmy had tried to stay clear of the matter, never saying a word to his son about the many beatings he gave Brooks.
"So can I go?" Jasper asked impatiently.
"I don’t see why not," Hannah replied. "But don’t stay out too long."
As Jasper ran for the door, his father came back in from his nightly rounds. Jimmy Hickok was the Marshal of Rock Creek and every night, just before the sun went down, he took a stroll through the town, to ensure that nothing was amiss.
"Where you off to in such a hurry?" Jimmy asked, as if he didn’t know.
"To the pond," Jasper said quickly.
"Tomorrow I want you to come to my office after school."
"Aw Pa," Jasper complained.
"I need you to do some chores around there," Jimmy explained.
Jasper scowled, he was sure that this was just another scheme his father had dreamed up to get him interested in being an officer of the law. But Jasper had no interest in following in his father’s footsteps, he just didn’t know how to tell him. "Can I go now?" he asked hurriedly.
"Yeah, but don’t be out too long," Jimmy cautioned his son.
"I won’t," Jasper called back as he ran out the door.
"So what have my girls been up to?" Jimmy asked, kissing the tops of his daughters heads.
As the girls began to chatter all at once, Jimmy glanced at Hannah and smiled. "And how’s my wife?"
Hannah returned his smile and kissed her husband, while her daughters nudged themselves and began to giggle.
"Mush," Olivia whispered to Ellie.
Jasper ran all the way to the pond, where he found Sally already there. This was their nightly ritual; from late spring once the ground had dried till late fall, when a blanket wasn’t enough to keep them warm, they met here every evening.
"You’re late," Sally said with a smile.
"Sorry," Jasper grinned, flopping down next to her. He recalled the first time he had found her here. It was a few weeks after her mother had died and Sally was out here all alone, crying her eyes out. At first he had come here, just so Sally wouldn’t be alone. But now he wouldn’t miss being here with her, where they could just be alone.
As Jasper lay back, he put his hands under his head. Sally lay next to him, in the crook of his arm. She looked at the stars that were just starting to come out and asked "So what’s today’s story gonna be about?"
"Pegasus," Jasper replied. During the past few months, Jasper had been making up stories and telling them to Sally. This week’s story had been his version of the Greek myths.
Sally snuggled closer to Jasper and listened to his words. No matter what happened during the day, Jasper’s words always took her away.
Chapter Four
Sally smiled as she saw Jasper trudge into his father’s office after school. As she watched him walk into the building, she turned and stepped into her grandfather’s store. He had asked that she spend a few afternoons here, helping him out.
"Afternoon, Sally," Mr. Tomkins boomed.
"Afternoon Grandpa," Sally replied.
"You wouldn’t mind doing some inventory today?" the white-haired man asked.
"Not at all," Sally said lightly.
As she took the list from her grandfather, Sally noticed the look he gave her. She didn’t think he approved of her necklace, he wasn’t keen on what he called that Indian nonsense and Sally wore that beaded necklace constantly. She had to, it was all she had to remember her uncle, Red Bear. He had died during one of the many battles the Kiowa had fought with the Army.
She recalled when he had given it to her, to make her feel welcome during her stay. The Cross family had all gone for a visit, a long time ago, before her mother died. Red Bear had sensed that Sally was feeling very awkward, as the other children kept looking at her and whispering among themselves. She couldn’t understand why. Her uncle had given her the clothes she was wearing, so she knew she was dressed just like them. But even though she looked like them, she knew she wasn’t really like them at all and everyone sensed it. It was always a source of despair for Sally that she never seemed to belong anywhere, not in the Indian world nor the white. She remembered her Aunt Lou saying that her father had often had the same feelings, but Buck never said anything about that to her. So Sally assumed that Lou was just trying to make her feel better.
Sally glanced up from the list she was marking and saw that Tomkins was still staring at her. He looked at her, startled, "Sorry," he said. "But sometimes you remind me of you Grandma. You know you’re named after her."
"I know," Sally said. But that was all she knew. She really didn’t know much about her family, either side. Sally’s mother always broke out in tears when she tried to talk about her own mother and Buck never talked about his mother. So Sally decided to take a chance, "Why do I remind you of her?"
Tomkins smiled, "I think it’s the way you chew on your lip when you are thinking hard." He noticed how pleased the girl looked at his words, so he continued. "You know when you’re a lot like your Ma too. She was strong, just like you."
Sally shook her head furiously, "No, I’m not like her at all." Unbidden, the tears began to flow, she wiped them away with the back of her hand, "Not one little bit."
Tomkins awkwardly put an arm around her, "No Sally you are. Don’t you know that you are one of the strongest people I have ever met?" He hated the way some of the bullies picked on his granddaughter. He never knew how hateful the words he said in the past were until then, when he saw the pain they caused Sally. He guessed that it was true what people said, that being a grandparent made you look at everything different. Tomkins never realized how harsh the world was until then and he never wanted to soften it for anyone, the way he wanted to for Sally. She was a good girl, always trying to please him and her father. He realized now that this was tearing her apart, being that he and Buck were always at odds with each other.
Sally buried her head in her grandfather’s chest and sobbed. She didn’t notice that her father had entered the store a few minutes ago. Buck had stood silently, listening to the exchange between his daughter and his father-in-law. He never realized how much Sally suffered because of his silence. He had thought by burying all his pain, he would spare his children. But he understood now that they would benefit from knowing about his experience. He glanced at Tomkins’ face, from both their experiences. For once in their lives, Buck thought, he and Tomkins would have to get along. They couldn’t do it for themselves or even Jennifer, but he knew they would now, for Sally.
Buck placed an hand on his daughter’s shoulder, "He’s right, you know."
Sally jerked her head up, startled. "I’m sorry Pa."
Buck smiled at Tomkins, "Bill, you think you might be able to join us for dinner tonight?"
"Oh, I think I can mange that," Tomkins answered.
That night, Sally, Ike and Lilly never heard so many stories about their mother and both their grandmothers and their grandfathers. Later on, after Tomkins had gone home, Sally, Ike and Lilly lay in bed with their father, who had begun to tell them about his childhood. Slowly, Buck described the pain he felt, feeling like he never quite belonged anywhere. Ike and Sally exchanged looks. They had never known that their father had felt like them.
Chapter Five
"Class," Rachel said loudly. "The newspaper is sponsoring a contest and as part of your schoolwork, I expect you all to participate."
As the children groaned, Rachel continued, "The theme of the contest is who do you most admire. I would like your first drafts in by the end of next week."
That afternoon, as Nick and Jasper walked out of the schoolhouse, Nick turned to his friend and asked, "So who you gonna write about, your Pa?"
Jasper frowned, that’s what everyone would expect from him. "I don’t know. Who you gonna write about?"
Nick grinned, "My Ma." Nick knew that story was sure to win, who else had a mother who had pretended to be a boy and rode for the Pony Express. In Nick’s opinion, it even rivaled anything Jasper might come up with.
Jasper nodded, "That’s a good one."
"I just got to beat Kitty to it," Nick added. "You think Miss Dunne might let us work on it together?"
Jasper shrugged, his mind churning. Who would he write about? He admired his father, but he didn’t want to write about him. First, he didn’t think his father would approve. He didn’t like the idea of his reputation spreading any further than it had and second, Jasper admired someone else, not more than his father, but in a whole different way. He just didn’t know how to go about telling either party.
"You wanna go fishing?" Nick asked.
"Can’t," Jasper said. "I got to go and help my Pa this afternoon." He watched as his friend continued home and shouted to him, "Maybe tomorrow."
As Jasper walked into the Marshal’s office, his father handed him a broom, "You can start over there," Jimmy said, pointing his son to the back room.
Sighing, Jasper swept. But he was feeling quite absent minded and ended up having to sweep the back room out three times, until it finally met with his father’s satisfaction.
Jimmy watched his son, it worried him that Jasper was such a dreamer. If there was one thing he had learned was to expect the unexpected and he just didn’t know how to make his son understand that. Life was easy for Jasper and Jimmy hoped that it always would be, he just wanted him to be prepared for what may come.
Jimmy looked out the window and frowned, he didn’t like the way a group of men were acting out there. It was a bunch of young cowhands who judging by the look of them, had been in the saloon a little too long. "Jasper, start unlocking the cells," he said, before he left.
Jasper did as he was told. He opened each cell door wide open and waited by the window, watching his father. He couldn’t help but feel a surge of pride as his father quickly scattered the group. Jimmy then picked out two men, most likely the ring leaders and he dragged them off to jail. As his father tossed them in the cells, Jasper quickly slammed the doors shut.
Jimmy flashed his son a smile, "We make a pretty good team," he said in a pleased tone. But he was completely taken aback by his son’s reaction. Jasper looked furious. He then stalked away, going to the back room.
Jimmy checked to see that the cell doors were shut tight and then followed Jasper. "Well what’s gotten into you?" Jimmy demanded loudly.
"Nothing," Jasper sulked.
"Sometimes I get the feeling that you don’t like me much," Jimmy said, lowering his voice.
"I like you fine," Jasper replied. "I just don’t like the way you are always trying to make me into something I ain’t."
"What’s that?"
"You," Jasper said.
"You think I want you to be like me?" Jimmy asked in astonishment.
"You’re always bringing me down here, so I can learn how to do your job. I bet you got it all planned out, how I’ll follow in your footsteps, just like you followed in Grandpa Spoon’s," Jasper burst out. "Well I ain’t gonna. I ain’t gonna be your deputy."
"I never wanted you to be like me," Jimmy said quietly. "I just wanted you to have some focus. It worries me sometimes, the way your head is always in the clouds." When Jasper looked at him disbelieving, Jimmy continued, "All I ever wanted you to be is happy. Safe and happy."
"You really don’t expect me to be your deputy?" Jasper asked.
"Nope," Jimmy replied.
"So why are you always bringing me down here?"
Jimmy grinned, "Believe it or not, I do need some help around here. Much as I hate to admit it, I can’t do everything myself." He ruffled his son’s hair, "Plus I kind of like having you around."
Jasper smiled, "That’s it?"
"That’s it," Jimmy said.
Jasper rose to his feet, "You got any more chores for me?"
"No," Jimmy answered. "You got other plans?"
"Yeah, I got to write an essay for Miss Dunne."
"Well, I don’t want Miss Dunne mad at me, you best start working on it," Jimmy said.
Chapter Six
"You want me to read it over for you?" Sally asked, that night at the pond.
"I want you to read it, but you don’t have to check it," Jasper said. The words had come easily this time. He guessed it was because he had finally told his father. He believed for so long that his father would be disappointed that he didn’t want to be a lawman, when he had found out different, the words had just come pouring out.
When he had told his mother, she had smiled and said maybe that’s why he couldn’t ever write his stories down. Writing them on paper would make them real and once they were real, he wouldn’t be able to take them back, Hannah had said. Then he would no choice but to tell his father about his dreams because he would be able to see his son’s talent for himself. Jasper had been confused by her words at first, but he understood them now. It was his fear that had held him back, not lack of skill or talent.
As Sally read his words, she was surprised. Jasper had finally put his wonderful stories down on paper. She was also surprised by his choice. He had written about her father. Sally read about how much Jasper admired him for his ability to straddle two worlds. She wondered how he had known about all that. She hadn’t even had a chance to tell him all the stories her father had told her. She supposed that Jasper must have heard these things from his father.
"It’s wonderful," Sally said, handing the paper back. "I never knew you admired my father so much."
Jasper grinned at her, "Oh, I admire this person, but I didn’t write about your father."
"But it’s all about someone caught between two worlds," Sally said, feeling completely confused.
"You think your father is the only person whoever felt that way?"
"But you said you admired him."
"I admire you," Jasper said.
"Me?" Sally asked in amazement.
"I admire the way you never let people get you down," Jasper told her. "I admire the way you stand up for yourself and your brother. I admire the way you are able to look beyond the way your grandfather treated your father and still try to get to know him. I think you are the just about the most special person I have ever met."
Sally was unable to speak. The lump in her throat was just too large.
"And I love you," Jasper said, kissing her.
Part Two
