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Thank you for reading this and I just love the wonderful reviews.
Chapter 22: ‘Any More At Home Like You?’


Buffy has a revealing chat with Xander and Riley. There are some ominous omens in this chapter; please read it and see if you can spot them.


Chapter 22:


Spike sauntered out of the barn into the clean Arizona air; a definite spring in his step. He ignored the various smiles, smirks and grins of his male companions who loitered about the front yard of the Doyle ranch.

“Get a good night’s sleep Spike?” Xander Harris greeted him with a loud, hearty laugh. “Did you have sweet dreams?”

“Sod off,” Spike growled good-naturedly, to his new friend. He side-stepped the men on the front porch and headed into his aunt’s home.

“Where’s Buffy, Spike?” Jesse, Xander’s younger brother called after him. “A little ‘under the weather’ is she,” he finished with a snort.

This question brought another round of loud gaffaws and chuckles from the group of various men and young Connor who stood with them. Only Graham appeared to have a sour look on his stupid face and Spike definitely chose to ignore that.


Buffy washed herself as good as she could, in a barn with water from a small tub that is. She quickly dressed and ran her long fingers through her hair. William had left their honeymoon ‘suite’ a while earlier, intent on letting her sleep a while longer.

Now, it was time for Buffy to rise and shine, so to speak and face the new day. She had never felt so alive or happy in her entire life and she felt that this was a good omen for the future.

‘Mrs. William Giles,’ Buffy hummed to herself, happily. ‘I wonder,’ she paused momentarily, a wonderful new thought in her head. ‘What if I’m…..’ Buffy dared not to finish the sweet thought, for fear it might not come true.

“William?” Buffy called through the barn door before she actually left the building. When she glanced about the Quinn front yard, she noticed several of the gang milling about outside.

‘Oh,’ Buffy sighed, just a bit intimidated by these men. That is until she spied Riley Finn and Xander Harris, sitting on the front porch of the Quinn home.

Buffy took a deep breath and strode, bravely, out into the yard, her head held high. If any of the men had anything to say, they held their tongues, even that nasty old Graham person.

“Hey,” Buffy greeted Xander and Riley amicably. “Is Will inside?” She asked shyly.

“Yup,” Xander grunted with an easy smile that Buffy had come to recognize. “He’ll be out, soon for you. Why don’t ya’ sit with us, Mrs. Giles and have a chat, eh?”

“Okay,” Buffy mumbled with a blush as she took an empty seat next to Riley Finn.

She sat in uncomfortable silence for a moment or two before finally speaking up. When she did, Buffy was immediately sorry she had asked anything.

“So, Xander,” Buffy stammered nervously, “how long did you know your wife? Before, uhm, I mean before you married her,”
She artfully changed the direction of her question.

‘Oh great, Summers, I mean Giles,’ Buffy mentally kicked herself. ‘You barely know this guy and you are asking all kinds of personal questions and…..’

Xander must have picked up on Buffy’s distress because he chuckled kindly and shrugged his massive shoulders. “A while,” he replied in a non-committed manner. “Anya was working at a place down in Kentucky, where we’re from,” Xander finished by nodding at his companion Riley.

“Oh,” Buffy replied meekly as she twiddled with a tendril of her hair that had fallen onto her cheek. “I see,” she stumbled along, blindly, trying to cover for her faux pas.

As a well brought up young woman, Buffy knew better then to ask such personal questions of these strange men. Even if they were hard, seasoned outlaws, Buffy knew better then this.

“Xander here swept Anya right off her feet,” Riley piped in, evenly as he took a drag from his cigarette. “He saw a good thing and acted on it,” the huge man drawled.

Buffy was fully aware that the cigarette Riley smoked was not the filled with the usual tobacco that William used. Nor was it the pipe tobacco her own father, Hank, employed for his after supper smoke.

Riley had saved Buffy’s life and her mind when he had mixed up the potable of peyote, back in Utah. If the mystic young man had not stepped in when he did? Buffy knew for sure she would be dead or her mind addled for life, at least.

This thought gave Buffy a little more confidence and she asked Riley, very politely of course, if ‘he’ had a young lady waiting for him somewhere. She noted, sadly, that a pained expression slipped across Riley’s face, but then was gone just as quickly.

“There was a girl, once,” Riley answered in an unusually quiet tone. “Back home, in Kentucky,” he continued softly.

Buffy watched as Riley took another deep drag on his unusual cigarette. The unfamiliar smoke that curled up from Riley’s mouth seemed to mesmerize Buffy.

“Her name was Samantha Deperieu. Her dad owned a nearby plantation, to my folks farm that is,” Riley sighed heavily. “We seemed to be crazy for each other,” he continued with a derisive laugh. “I thought we’d get married someday, maybe have a couple of kids, but…..”

“What happened?” Buffy asked the question carefully with a sinking feeling in her stomach. She had a pretty good idea just what had happened though.

“Samantha’s father, he hated my guts,” Riley mumbled with a shrug of his huge shoulders. “Insisted that Sam marry someone else and she did. Just to please ‘daddy’ I guess. No loss really,” Riley muttered, tossing the butt of the peyote smoke on the ground before them.

“I’m sorry,” Buffy whispered sincerely, trying to blink back the threatening tears in her eyes. “This Samantha lost a good thing, Riley,” she offered evenly. “She was a fool and I bet some pretty senorita in Mexico will catch your eye as soon as we get there.”

“Well, Spike caught the real catch Buffy,” Riley chuckled amicably. “He’s a lucky man, your Spike is,” he added warmly.

Riley grinned at Buffy affectionately; he liked the little firecracker that his cohort Spike had found for himself. “I don’t suppose there any more at home, like you, eh Buffy?” Riley asked with a wicked smirk.

“Well,” Buffy began with a little giggle, “there’s my little sister, Dawn Lee. The problem is she’s only twelve-years-old and quite taken with Andrew Simmons, the butcher’s only son.”

“Your sister’s a bit too young, even for me,” Riley chuckled good- naturedly. “I guess I’ll have to look up some of those pretty girls in Nogales, Mexico, as soon as we hit town, eh Xand?”

“Yeah,” Xander drawled; his mind obviously someplace else. “You know?” Harris continued with his eyes focused on the hills in the distance. “As soon we catch up to Anya and Darla and the rest in Nogales? I’m gonna’ talk my beautiful wife into getting’ pregnant,” he finished with a nod of his dark head, a warm gleam in his dark brown eyes.

“Sorry Buffy,” Xander mumbled with a blush, “I shouldn’t of said that in front of a lady and all.”

“No apologies Xander,” Buffy murmured, patting his arm tenderly. “I know you must miss your beloved wife something awful. I meant what I said, back in Nebraska Xander. Your wife, Anya, and Angel’s Darla must be exceptional women and devoted to their husbands, completely.”


“You movin’ in on my wife, Finn?” Buffy turned to see her husband standing at the open front door of the house. Angel was right behind him, a goofy grin on his large face.

Buffy knew William was just playing with her and the two men she sat with. There was a huge smile on his handsome mouth and his blues eyes gleamed with merriment.


“Fat chance of that, Spike,” Riley grunted in response. “You’ve got this one’s heart and soul sewed up, that’s for sure.” He stood up from the chair and leisurely stretched his long arms.

“When are we headin’ out?” Xander asked suddenly as he stood to join his taller friend Riley.

“Soon, probably tomorrow,” Angel replied thoughtfully. “I’ve got a feeling that the posse from Redemption is close on our heels. I just want to get to Nogales and see my wife,” he continued wistfully. “ Probably should move out tonight really, but……”

Just then, young Connor shouted a warning from the ranch house fence.

“Angel!” Connor exclaimed wildly, “there’s someone coming this way.” The young man was pointing in the direction of a cloud of dust on the horizon.

“It’s only one rider,” Connor assured the anxious group in the front yard. “He’s ridin’ hell bent for leather though,” the lad added with a shout.


Doyle Quinn hurried out of the house and past the group of his guests that stood there. Quinn nearly ran to the place where Connor stood by the fence.

After a few moments of scanning the distant but nearing rider, Doyle trotted up to this front porch to join the others. There was a look of surprise, but not fear on the older man’s face.

“I know the rider,” Doyle assured the others quickly. “I’d know that gait anywhere and that horse. It’s a friend of mine, from Flagstaff. I’m not shocked to see him heading this way, but I am concerned. He’s got news for us, that’s for sure.”

“News?” Angel asked his uncle by marriage warily. “What kind of news do you think Uncle Doyle?”

“Well,” Doyle paused for a moment, “it won’t be ‘good’ news, I’m pretty sure of that. To be honest,” he continued carefully, “I set word out to some trusted blokes in Flagstaff, as soon as Cordy told me you guys were on the way. I made sure that young Simms there,” Doyle nodded towards the direction of the approaching rider. “I made sure he’d warn us if he heard anything worrisome in Flagstaff. Apparently,” the man continued nervously, “he has.”


“This is Silas Simms,” Doyle introduced the out of breath young man to the group of people on his porch. “This is Mrs. Buffy Giles,” he continued introducing the only female present, in a more personal manner.

“I’ve got some news, not very good at that,” Silas interrupted the introductions, impatiently. “That posse, from Nebraska,” he continued his conversation directly with Doyle. “They crossed the Utah/Arizona territorial border, just this morning. It’s not that far up to the border from here, Quinn,” he added matter-of-factly.

“Father Sanchez made sure I would ride out and let you all know about the posses’ whereabouts,” Silas explained politely to Buffy for some reason. “I thought I’d better get out here, soon as the sun come up and let you know,” the man returned his eager gaze to Doyle Quinn.

“Thanks, mate,” Doyle grunted at Silas and shook his hand. “You all better head out then,” he mumbled to Angel. “That posse is catching up to you and I don’t think it’ll take them long to figure out you’re all avoiding the big towns and haciendas here in Arizona. They might be a bit slow,” Doyle Quinn grinned snarkily, “but they’re not completely stupid,” he added with a laugh.

Buffy looked at William, who gazed down at her, squeezing her hand gently with his. “I’m sorry baby,” Spike sighed, “I guess we’ll have to pick up and move as soon as possible.”

“It’s okay, Will,” Buffy nestled into her husband’s embrace. “I knew what I was getting into when I took vows with you. I don’t regret any of it,” she added with a loving smile up at him.

Spike kissed Buffy’s lush little mouth, tenderly and hugged her tightly to his body. “I love you,” he murmured in her ear, nipping her neck gently.

“I love you,” she repeated back to him with great conviction.

“Well, I guess this means we’ll be in Mexico even sooner then we thought, baby,” Spike continued warmly. “You’ll get that honeymoon by the sea faster then we thought, eh?”

“Yup,” Buffy grinned happily. “I can’t wait to play in the waves, privately with you Will,” she chuckled. “Especially if we’re both naked as the day we were born,” she whispered lowly so just her husband could hear her naughty words.


“We’ll head out then,” Angel stated gruffly. “We’ll head down by Prescott, not in the city itself but close by. There’s an old family friend down by there,” he continued in his take charge voice. “He’s sympathetic to the Confederacy and he’ll put us up for a night or two. That posse from Redemption can’t catch us if they don’t know where to look for us. Now, can they?”


A/N: Well, here’s another chapter of my western. I know it wasn’t chock full of Spuffy but I wanted to reveal some history about the others in the gang. I also wanted to give more insight to Xander and Angel’s feelings about their wives.

It’s going to get kind of angstsy from here on in, I’m afraid. The characters in this story are outlaws and rough natured. This isn’t a fairy tale ending kind of story so there will be much unhappiness for some before it’s over.

Thank you for reading and please review, spufette.





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