ROCK CREEK ADVENTUROUS TALES
PART 2

GHOSTS FROM THE PAST

by Debra © 2001

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Charlene had a planned meeting this morning that required that she go horseback riding. Louise had caught her in the barn saddling up a horse, and had wanted to accompany her, because of Simon still lurking about. Charlene assured her that she wouldn't be in any danger. She had almost slipped up and told Louise that she is no longer in danger where Simon is concerned as long as she obeys Jesse James. She is actually beginning to think that Simon Davenport is out of her life for good.

Luckily she was able to convince Louise that she would be all right on a ride alone. She is afraid that Louise would never speak to her again if she knew the insidious plan she and Jesse James had to come up with to not only keep Jane from Buck, but to also get Buck out of Jesse's reach for awhile.

She is dressed in black breeches with a white blouse. She doesn't look anything like the woman that runs around in dresses that attempt to seduce every man that passes by her. She kicks her heel into the horse with the black boots that adorn her feet as they round a bend in the road. A pleasing smile plays across her face as she sees the man who is waiting for her arrival.

Charlene pulls back on her reins to stop her horse side by side next to Cody's horse. She is astounded that he doesn't appear to be very happy about their accomplishments. Why is it that men can't seem to relax and just enjoy a good scheme that had succeeded superbly in their favor? Men have to get so uptight about their wrong doings. It nauseates Charlene when a man acts like he's too good to get his hands dirty. Cody is that type of man. He has made it perfectly clear to her that he can't allow his family to find out that he is involved in schemes with her.

"You look a little grumpy this morning Cody. What seems to be the problem?" Charlene asked still elated that their plan has worked to perfection.

"You are just so pleased with yourself, aren't you?" Cody asked with a frown.

"Isn't it amazing how the invention of the telegram really worked to our advantage yesterday," Charlene spoke confidently.

"Buck is in jail Charlene. I've accused him of murder. He could be in big trouble if I can't get the charges dropped. How does our plan work if the man you want ends up hanging by a rope?" Cody asked sorrowfully.

Charlene rolls her eyes. Why do men make such a big deal out of nothing? "We've gone over the plan a hundred times Cody. You are to produce the witness that swears he saw Buck running from the murder scene. But when the witness sees Buck, he changes his story. Buck will no longer be a suspect."

"I just don't know if having my family all hatefully mad at me is worth keeping Buck and Jane apart. How much longer do you think we're going to be able to keep them from each other?"

"You could stall the witness for a couple of days."

Cody looks disgusted with the woman before him. "How am I supposed to do that?"

"You really can't think for yourself, can you? You tell everyone that you've searched for your witness, but you are unable to find him. Let a couple of days go by with Buck sitting safely in jail away from Jane's clutches until I think of a way to end their attraction to each other permanently."

Cody is hesitating to follow Charlene's instructions. His mind is already made up that there is no way he and Charlene will get away with this plot. He already figures that he won't be able to deceive Teaspoon for very much longer. The old marshal doesn't let any misconception slither past him. "This whole deceptive plot of ours is going to blow up in our faces."

Charlene laughs a boisterous wicked laugh before she gives Cody her acknowledgement. "Why is that?"

"You've never been truly in love have you Charlene?" Cody asked with sadness in his features.

Charlene must think about Cody's question for a moment. She's had plenty of men in her life, but none of them have ever been in love with her until Simon came along. As for her ever being in love with any of them, she would definitely have to say no. She has always managed to keep passion in her life without any of those useless strings hanging around to get tangled up in. "I can honestly say that until Buck, I have never had any use for love."

"Well then let me inform you of a little secret about love. Sooner or later true love always prevails. I've been watching intently the way Buck and Jane are with each other. They are in love even if they haven't confided to each other their feelings. We won't be able to stop the feelings they have for each other. They aren't going to just all of a sudden start mistrusting or disliking each other just because that's what we want to happen."

"If Buck and Jane are never allowed to consummate that love, then sooner or later it will wilt and die," Charlene spoke venomously.

"Why do you always have to put sex in the middle of everything? It doesn't matter to them that they haven't made love yet. Don't you see the look in their eyes whenever they are close to one another? They love each other Charlene. Sex is only a pleasure that is a small part of that love. Their feelings of love for each other aren't going to change just because they aren't involved with one another on a sexual basis yet," Cody spoke infuriated with her lack of knowledge concerning love.

Charlene becomes harden with Cody's persistence that Buck and Jane will never fall out of love. She doesn't want to hear what could be the truth. Not everybody is constructed the way she has been with men. She finds sex to be quite enjoyable without the love. She can only imagine what sex would be like if there were love involved in the consummation. "I've heard enough chatter about love. Just do your part of the plan without making a mistake, and everything we want will be ours."

Charlene eases her horse to turn back in the direction she came from. Cody watches her leave until she is out of his sight. The woman is very vengeful. His only problem is why did he ever get tangled up in her web of deception, and how he is going to break free of her hold over him.

Jimmy dismounts from his horse and throws the reins over the hitching post outside the marshal's office without tying the reins to the post. His head is titled down in thought. He can't understand how everything has gotten so out of hand lately. He glances up to make sure he isn't about to run into the glass door that had just been replaced. He hears the familiar laughter of a woman he is very close to.

Jimmy turns his head to the side to witness Hannah in the arms of another man. He doesn't know whom the young gentleman is that resembles a banker adorned in a gray tailored suit. All Jimmy sees is how intently Hannah is listening to the man's every word.

As Hannah and the man walk by Jimmy on the walkway, he is stupefied that she doesn't acknowledge his presence at all. He turns completely around in a circle as he watches them walk past him and on down the street. The woman has no morals whatsoever. She hadn't even noticed the hurt look in his eyes. He hates to admit to himself that he could be developing feelings for the dark-haired beauty.

Jimmy fumbles with the doorknob of the jailhouse, while still watching Hannah. He realizes that the army soldiers inside the marshal's office are watching him make a complete fool of himself.

He finally succeeds in getting the door open only to slam it into the interior wall of the office with his booted foot. He walks into the jailhouse in a foul mood.

Buck gets up from his not so comfortable cot and gazes at the fit Jimmy is throwing. "Careful with that damn door. Teaspoon said the next one we break the money comes out of our pockets to fix it," Buck spoke amusingly.

Jimmy glances over at Buck who is still behind bars. "Why are you in such a good mood this morning. I would have thought you'd be ready to kill somebody by now," Jimmy spoke sourly.

"Bad choice of words Jimmy," Buck spoke arching his brow.

Jimmy gazes at the soldiers who are listening acutely to every word that Jimmy and Buck say to one another. He walks over to the soldiers. "Now that I'm here for the day, the two of you can do your guarding outside," Jimmy spoke demandingly.

The two soldiers look at each other. This isn't the man they normally take orders from. They figure the look in the marshal's eyes is nothing they want to mess with. They both make their way over to the door shutting it quietly behind their departure.

"So you want to tell me why you're in such a good mood. These charges against you are pretty serious," Jimmy asked calmly.

"I'm trying to make good use out of the time I'm spending behind these bars. Actually, I've been awake all night contemplating the many different torturous ways a can pay Cody back for these outstanding accommodations he's given me," Buck spoke seriously glancing about his tiny cell.

"Yeah. I've been thinking about the many ways I'm going to kill him when the truth comes out," Jimmy spoke angrily.

"Don't lose control Jimmy. It isn't going to help my case any if we can't get the truth out of Cody cause he's dead," Buck spoke disheartened.

Jimmy smiles boldly. "Yeah. I guess you're right. I suppose I can wait until after you're proven innocent. Then I'll kill him."

Buck can only smile at his friend's unforgiving temper.

Teaspoon is in the barn at the ranch saddling a horse to ride on into town. He wants to visit with Buck awhile, and maybe try to catch up with Cody. He still moves a bit slow with the healed leg that is not completely up to strength. He is getting ready to mount his horse when Cody guides his horse into the barn.

"You're just the person I want to talk with," Teaspoon spoke harshly.

Cody looks up from his dazed look at the ground. "I'm only here long enough to saddle up a fresh horse. I tired mine out this morning searching for that witness of mine that claims he saw Buck at the scene of the last killing."

"What do you mean searching for him? Didn't you have him tied up somewhere so you wouldn't misplace him?" Teaspoon asked his voice suspicious of Cody's actions, but rising through the roof of the barn anyway.

"No, I didn't keep my witness bound and gagged. I probably should have though. He isn't anywhere around."

Teaspoon walks closer to Cody. He stands directly in front of the blonde man with a look of disappointment. "You best make this here witness of yours appear damn fast! Cause if you don't, I'm unlocking Buck's cell door and letting him roam free. My advice to you would be to stay clear of Buck. I'm almost sure he won't be in a real good mood where you're concerned."

"Buck's just mad cause I interfered with his night with Jane," Cody spoke amused that no one knows about his plan with Charlene.

Teaspoon eyes Cody up suspiciously. He hasn't figured out how Cody did it, but Teaspoon's knows that Cody's charges toward Buck are all part of a scheme Cody devised to keep Buck and Jane apart. He plans on proving it if it takes him until his dieing day to do so. "Cody, you better think again about what you're doing. This is Buck's life you're playing games with for your own selfish gain," Teaspoon spoke powerfully as he guides his horse out of the barn. "The fact that your scheming isn't working, makes your lies even that more difficult to keep from coming out." He mounts his horse and rides away from the ranch.

Alongside the exterior of the barn, Jane watches Teaspoon ride out. She had been listening to the conversation between Teaspoon and Cody. Since Buck's arrest last night, she has been unable to think about anything else except the possibility that Cody has falsely accused Buck of murder because of his obsessive love for her.

Jane strolls into the barn with a walk and look of determination. The man she loves is in jail, and Cody has put him there wrongfully.

Cody hears someone approach him from behind, and he whirls around to see whom it is sneaking up on him. He is graciously surprised to see that it is Jane. "Good afternoon Jane," Cody spoke to her with a warm smile.

"Cody," Jane spoke not so warmly.

Cody is taken back by her obvious coldness toward him. He figures that she must be listening to what everyone else is saying. "I was hoping to see you today."

"Are you going into town to release Buck from jail?" Jane asked in a demanding tone of voice. She is not at all pleased with Cody right now, and she's not about to let him off easy for what he has done to Buck and her.

"Jane, I can't let Buck go. I have a witness…"

"I don't want to hear about your witness anymore. Buck is a part of your family. You know he wouldn't kill all those people you're claiming he has killed. Buck isn't a cold-blooded killer!"

"Buck killed a man in cold-blood before Jane," Cody spoke sadly.

"If you are referring to that man that killed Ike, then I'd say Neville deserved what he got. Buck wouldn't just plot out and kill army soldiers, and people from town that he has sworn as a deputy to protect," Jane spoke getting fiercely angry with Cody the longer she speaks to him. She turns and starts to walk away from him figuring this conversation has come to an end. She doesn't want to listen to anymore of his lies!

The last thing Cody wants in his life right now is for Jane to be angry with him. As Jane turns to walk away from him, he grabs hold of her arm and gently forces her to look at him. "Have dinner with me tonight. Maybe by then I'll have this whole mess sorted out," Cody spoke pleadingly.

"You'll let Buck out of jail if I have dinner with you?" Jane asked cautiously. She is the reason Buck is being accused of murder, and she'll prove that Cody is using this situation to make advances onto her. Poor Cody, he simply can't accept that she is in love with Buck.

"No. I didn't exactly say that. That would be blackmail. I'm not a blackmailer, Jane. I could be persuaded to let Buck out of jail as long as he stays at his house with a couple of my guards to watch so that he doesn't try to make a run for it."

"By persuasion you mean if I would consent to have dinner with you?"
Jane asked with an understanding that Cody is indeed blackmailing her even if he doesn't wish to call it that.

Cody realizes he is making himself seem guilty for locking Buck up under false pretenses. Charlene had warned him not to mess the plan up. He is so close to getting what he wants. The conceivability that he may have Jane in his arms tonight is tormenting every nerve in his body. "Look I really need to find that witness that stated he saw Buck at the scene of the killing. Please, just have dinner with me."

Jane looks deeply into the once sincere blue eyes that she now mistrusts. She is having a difficult time understanding why Cody would do this to his friend. "I'll have dinner with you. We will continue this conversation then," Jane replied harshly.

Cody mounts his horse. "I'll pick you up around six o'clock," Cody spoke gleefully as he rides away from her.

Jane watches Cody leave the ranch. She stands still long after he is completely gone not able to move a muscle from the feeling of doom that is upon her. She starts to feel a chill, so she rubs her arms up and down with her hands. She knows she should go back over to the house, but she doesn't want to have to listen to Charlene's smugness. She'll have to make sure her stomach stays settled for her dinner with Cody tonight. Her dinner with Cody will likely make her nauseated enough.

Jane becomes aware of her surroundings when she hears someone's footsteps crunching the tiny stones that make up the ground. She looks away from her stare of Cody's sightless horse. She sees that it is Rachel whom is approaching her.

"You seem a little lost," Rachel spoke as she comes closer to Jane.

"I think I am," Jane replied quietly.

"Have you been in town to see Buck yet today?" Rachel asked hoping that would cheer Jane up a bit.

"I don't think I'm going to see Buck today," Jane spoke with a frown.

"He'll be disappointed if he doesn't get a visit from you," Rachel spoke trying to persuade Jane to go see the man she loves.

"I know Rachel. I just don't want to run into Cody anymore today before our dinner date tonight," Jane spoke angry with herself for betraying Buck.

"You're having dinner with Cody?" Rachel asked perplexed by Jane's admittance to having a date with Cody.

"Rachel, I only agreed to have dinner with Cody because I need to find out what it is he's up to. We all know Buck didn't kill those people. Cody knows it too. He's hiding something from all of us including Buck," Jane spoke determined to find what it is Cody is hiding.

"You don't want to see Buck today because you're worried that you won't be able to keep it from him about your dinner date with Cody?" Rachel asked calmly.

"Buck won't want me to go. I think Buck is a little unsure of how I feel about him," Jane spoke softly.

Rachel smiles at the young woman before her. "You could fix that very easily Jane."

"I know, and I will as soon as I get Buck out of jail. The only way I can do that though is to nail Cody for whatever it is he's plotting.

Cody walks over confidently into the marshal's office. His smile is wiped right off his face when he views Teaspoon, Kid and Jimmy all staring back at him waiting for Cody's witness to make his appearance. Cody watches Buck getting up from the cot in his cell and walking over to the barred door of his cell.

"Where's your witness Cody?" Jimmy asked flatly.

"I haven't been able to locate him," Cody stated his eyes refusing to meet any one of them directly.

"You don't have a witness, do you Cody?" Kid asked angrily as he takes a few steps toward Cody.

Cody backs up a few steps. Kid looks as if his temper could boil over at any second.

"If you haven't got any proof, then you should have to let Buck go," Kid stated flatly.

"I can't. I can't let Buck go until he's proven innocent," Cody stated in a whiney tone.

"Cody I think you have the law turned around backwards. A person is innocent until proven guilty," Jimmy spoke with a chill in his tone.

Teaspoon walks up to Cody's face. Teaspoon's face is flushed with anger. "I'm going to give you until tomorrow to produce that witness of yours. If you can't produce him, then I'm setting Buck free," Teaspoon spoke harshly.

"All I can do is to keep looking, uh…after my dinner date with Jane that is," Cody spoke with a grin.

Buck looks confused at the message Cody is relaying to him, and not from Jane. If Cody wants a reaction to his message meant to hurt Buck, he won't give Cody the pleasure of seeing him distraught with worry. Cody knows that he can't do anything about it while he's locked in a jail cell. But, Buck can't help wonder why Jane would go out with Cody after what Cody has done to him. That is presuming the date between them is simply a dinner date between friends.

Cody strolls over to the cell that Buck is locked up in. He stays far enough away from the cell so Buck can't reach for Cody's neck with his bare hands. "I see you're having a hard time believing that Jane would go out with me. You've only been locked up for one day, and already she's tramping around with another man," Cody spoke trying his best to get to Buck emotionally.

Kid walks over to Cody hurriedly. "You're lying Cody! Jane wouldn't go out with you."

"You happen to notice that Jane hasn't been in to visit you today Buck?" Cody asked his voice over flowing with cockiness.

"Shut-up Cody!" Buck hollered as he reaches through the cell bars with his hands hoping to grab onto Cody and bring his head right through the bars of his cell!

Cody is just too far out of Buck's way for him to choke the life out of him!

Jimmy stands up from where he is sitting and makes his way over to Kid, Cody and Buck. "Buck, would you like for one of us to strangle Cody for you?"

"Lets just calm down all of you," Teaspoon spoke as an order to all of his boys.

All four of the young men glance at Teaspoon. "Cody perhaps you should go back to the bunkhouse and get ready for your date. You wouldn't want to smell the way you do right now when you go to pick Jane up tonight," Teaspoon spoke harsh while making faces at Cody's body odor.

Cody lifts up his arm, and smells his armpit. Boy, I guess you're right Teaspoon. I better get on back home and get cleaned up. Uh… I'll be leaving two guards again tonight to make sure Buck STAYS in jail," Cody spoke as if insinuating that they might try to release Buck from his tiny jail cell. Cody takes one last look at them wondering if they are all up to no good, but he really doesn't care, tonight he has what he wants, a date with Jane.

Cody hurriedly rushes out of the jailhouse never looking back at the four of them. He has a date with the woman he wants to spend the rest of his life with, and he doesn't want to make a bad first impression by being late.

"Why'd you send Cody on his way Teaspoon?" Jimmy asked flatly.

"I want to speak with all of you without Cody's big ears listening in."

Kid, Jimmy and even Buck get a little chuckle out of Teaspoon's words for Cody's ears.

"What do you want to talk to us about Teaspoon?" Kid asked baffled.

"Buck, first of all, I'm sure if Jane does have a dinner date with Cody it is for a good reason. She may be on to what Cody is up to," Teaspoon spoke trying to make the Kiowa believe that Jane still cares for him.

"Cody's right Teaspoon. Jane hasn't been by today to see me. If Jane cares about me so much, she would have stopped by to see how I'm doing," Buck spoke disheartened.

"Buck, I'm going back to the ranch. I'll try to find Jane and see what's going on," Kid spoke trying to reassure Buck about Jane's feelings for him.

"Kid, I'll go with you," Teaspoon spoke as he walks closer to Buck's cell. "We'll get this cleared up tomorrow. You think you can tolerate one more night in this cell?"

"I can tolerate the cell all right Teaspoon. It's the thought of Cody all over Jane that I'm having trouble dealing with," Buck spoke somberly.

"I know. Kid and I will keep an eye on the two of them," Teaspoon spoke calmly.

"Thanks Teaspoon," Buck spoke softly.

Teaspoon joins Kid at the door of the office. They look back at Buck one last time before leaving.

"You got another plan?" Kid asked as the two men are mounting their horses.

"I sure do. You got dinner plans for tonight?" Teaspoon inquired with a smile.

Kid understands exactly where Teaspoon is coming from. The two of them ride on back to the ranch.

Jimmy stays at the jailhouse with Buck.

"You don't have to stay with me," Buck spoke as he sits back down on the cot in his cell. Buck's depressed state noticeable to Jimmy, from the sulking expression on his face that he can't hide.

"I'm just gonna get some paperwork done. Our supper shouldn't be too much longer," Jimmy spoke as he walks back to his desk and sits down. He had left Buck alone in the jailhouse last night. He thought tonight he'd stay here and keep him company. He figures Charlene can fend for herself for one night.

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