Summary: *TYR / AU* Starting at the beginning, this story tells how the unusual McCord family came to live in Sweetwater.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything "The Young Riders" related, Characters of TYR do not belong to me, I like so many others before me am merely using the amazing universe created, no monetary compensation received, just the pleasure of creative writing as stress relief

Rating: T

Author's Notes: This story sets in motion the story arc I have created. It will establish a beginning for the other snippets I am posting (out of order as I finish them). It follows some Young Rider canon, but new characters are being introduced. I thought of this after being inspired from reading stories posted by all of you much more talented authors. I can only hope I have posted something others will enjoy reading.

If ideas or plot twists seem similar, it could be either: great minds think alike(I have no delusions of grandeur for myself), or we are all running out of original ideas (grin) or I liked that idea so much it just became a part of my personal universe (most likely). In either case, please take it as a compliment. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, (except in the US where it is called copyright infringement :)

If I ever create an idea, that others are able to run with and it inspires great works of creative writing, I would be honored, to be that muse

Please be kind in your reviews! Not Betaed

The McCords by Sapphire Lee

Prologue 1840

Aimee McCord, the mom, ran away from Michigan when pregnant with the girls, she didn't know she was having triplets. She left the three boys with Michael Langdon, her husband. Marcus "Marc", oldest son, born 1833, Mason "Mase" the second son, born 1835, & Matthew "Matt" the third son, born 1837. Aimee was devastated by leaving her sons behind, but she knew she wouldn't get away if she tried to take them with her. Langdon would move heaven and earth to retrieve his boys. She always planned to return for them though. Aimee came from an affluent upper crust family, she was wealthy in her own right. Langdon also came from the elite social circles. He saw Aimee's health deteriorating and tried to keep her from harms way. He was devastated when he found her missing. He had no idea when she left he was to be a father again.

Aimee suffered from a disorder, paranoia. She was despondent and agitated at living in the crowded city. She could go for long periods of time with out an episode, and then she would be affected for days at a time. Martha, her companion, read her stories of the west. Martha was more of a companion and close friend than servant. Aimee fantasized about wanting to get lost in the wide opens expanses of the West. When she left Michigan, she traveled using her maiden name, McCord, to hide her identity and create a new life for herself. Aimee arrived in Sweetwater in 1840, hugely pregnant. She couldn't travel any further in her condition. So this was the end of the line. She arrived in town, Martha went to the hotel and booked a room for them. She had her close friend and companion Martha with her and the clothes off her back. She also had enormous amounts of cash she had taken with her. Martha immediately set about establishing a permanent place for them to live and soon. The babies would be arriving soon. Aimee had long spells where she was lucent and of sound mind, but then things would set her off and she would be paranoid, fearful, and cry for days. Martha conducted all the business for the women. She found the old Wesley estate and organized the purchase, and hired an army of workers to get it ready. Aimee moved in a month before delivering her daughters. Aimee joked that she had swallowed a buffalo, she was that huge. She had been on bed rest for the last few weeks. It was a rough delivery, and the doctor wasn't the only one shocked when after she had delivered her first daughter, she started labor contractions again, minutes later her second daughter was born.

"I suspected that there was more than one baby" doc said with a grin. But he was in for the shock of his life when Aimee started again.

"Oh god Doc, I can feel the pain coming again" Aimee moaned.

"What do you mean? You quite scaring me Aimee" Doc replied. But soon he was helping deliver a third baby.

"Well I be damned, I never have heard of three babies being born at once"

"It's a miracle" Martha exclaimed

The miracles born in 1840 were named Madelaine the oldest, Mikaela second born, & Michelle third born. The girls were perfectly identical.

Earlier in Sweetwater

Josephine Gallagher-Stanton was pregnant in 1838, she delivered a healthy baby boy, she and her husband John named Lucien. But fever swept through in 1840 and killed her, by a miracle, the baby survived, her widowed husband John was devastated by her loss, he didn't know how to raise a baby. He decided the best option was to go into Sweetwater to leave the baby at the church, at least the baby would have a chance for a better life this way. John was devastated at the thought of giving up his son, but he didn't know what else to do for the child? At the church, by chance he met Martha, She declared that John and Lucien would come home to the McCord ranch with her. Aimee was overjoyed to have little Lucien in the house with the girls, he reminded her so much of her sons. John started helping on the ranch, he took over as ranch foreman and helped Martha manage the work. Aimee oversaw caring for all of the children. Taking care of the children helped to distract Aimee from her feelings of sadness and paranoia.

Madelaine was a fussy baby, constantly sick and crying, Aimee was at her wits end, the doctors were baffled, they didn't know what was wrong with the infant. Her spells were particularly bad after the baby ate (much later doctors would discover the condition of juvenile diabetes). She displayed deep, rapid breathing, dry skin and mouth, flushed face, fruity breath odor, vomiting, unable to keep down fluids, shaking, and sweating. Eventually, a doctor found by accident, that Madelaine did better when she didn't have anything sugary, so with careful diet, they were able to manage Madelaine's health. When the baby was most inconsolable, when not even the presence of her sisters would calm her, only Lucien could.

"Lucien, you are Maddie's guardian, watch over her always" John told Luc. Toddler Lucien was put in the cradle with Maddie, as her family had taken to calling her, he seemed to be the only thing that calmed her down. So began the story of Maddie and Luc, being inseparable from the earliest days. Luc was completely devoted to Maddie. Luc was embraced into the McCord family. It was impossible to tell he wasn't a natural McCord child, his looks were close enough to blend with the girls. Everywhere the girls went, Luc was with them. John, Aimee, and Martha served as the parental forces in the lives of the children. Over the years, the local residents of Sweetwater, came to accept the slightly odd but close knit McCord family.

Luc ran rough shod over the girls. As the oldest, he was like a big brother, but more of a best friend to Madelaine. If you didn't know their personalities, it was impossible to tell the girls apart, they were that identical. The only way to tell was their mannerisms, and eyes. And of course, which boy was hanging around who. Maddie had brown eyes and was right handed and of course was shadowed by Luc, Mikaela had hazel eyes and was right handed, & Michelle had brown eyes and was left handed.

Maddie was christened " Mad Lane" by her sister Mikaela. So Maddie retaliated by calling her "Mike", Michelle tried to intervene and both girls turned on her and christened her "Mitch", and so the nick names of the McCord girls were born. Living near to the homestead, was the Holden family. They had a son, Jeremiah, he came to hanging around the McCord ranch all the time, soon he was enveloped into the group of kids. He was 2 years younger than the girls and 4 years younger than Luc, Michelle /Mitch took to defending him from her sisters when they got into mischief. Jeremiah bonded to Michelle and was her constant shadow.

Aimee and Martha hired the finest tutors to educate all the children. The girls had an academic education as well as social graces. The boys were educated to high degrees of literacy, as well as shooting, tracking, and business. Aimee was adamant that her children would be polished and accomplished.

1850

By the time Maddie was about age 10 and Luc was age 12, 'Maddie' went by the name "Lane" to everyone outside the family. One day when Maddie and Luc were out riding, they came across a camp of men abusing a young boy, hitting him, Maddie was shocked and outraged, she galloped into the middle of it, scattering the men. Luc dove in after her, as always he had her back. Luc was already a sharp shot with the colt revolver, his dad had given him. He came in guns a-blazing, the men dove for cover and Maddie leaped to the ground, grabbed the boy and dove for cover.

"Hay, what's your name? Why were those men hitting on you?"

"Sloan Ellison, I work for those men"

"Don't you have any parents to look after you? Any family"

"Nah, I'm an orphan and an only child, been on my own since I was small, these men picked me up a few towns over and have been feeding me. They was pissed about losing their jobs"

"How old are you?" Maddie asked

"I reckon I'm about nine, that's what those men told me"

"Well you don't work for them no more, you're going to come with me; we'll be your family now" Maddie declared.

"Really?

"Yup, we got lots of room in our family. I'm Lane"

"Maddie you OK?" called Luc. Luc came to stand in the center of the clearing.

"He means me, my name is Madelaine, Lane for short. But my family calls me 'Maddie" Lane said to the confused look in Sloan's eyes. Lane stood up, offered her hand to Sloan, he took it and stood up with her. "but if you are going to be family and all, I guess you could call me Maddie like everyone else does"

"Yeah, we're OK Luc, Sloan here is going to be coming home with us." Luc shook his head, Maddie really did have a soft spot for the strays. She had already adopted all the stray cats, dogs, and other critters around the ranch. Why not stray people?

"OK; Sloan, you OK with this plan?" Luc asked.

"Yup, I don't got nothing waiting for me here" Sloan replied

"Sloan you can ride with me" Maddie offered.

"No way, he can ride with me or walk" Luc declared. He didn't know this boy, yeah he was small and probably harmless, but no way in hell he was letting a stranger near Maddie.

Maddie knew, there was no budging Luc when he took on that tone, she had tried in the past with no luck. "Best for you to just go with him". Maddie said sheepishly.

When they arrived at the ranch, Maddie introduced Sloan to Martha and Aimee. They passed a knowing look. Another stray had found a home. Martha stepped over to Sloan, looking him over, "We have a few rules here son, first and most important is loyalty & devotion to the family. We always care and look out for each other. Can you live with that?"

"Yes Ma'am"

"We expect everyone to help around the ranch, do chores, behavior politely, and be clean when we sit down to dinner. Are you willing to do that?"

"Yes Ma'am" Sloan eagerly replied.

"Well then son welcome to the McCord family." So Sloan came to be part of the McCord family. Martha shook hands with Sloan and welcomed him to the family.

Martha led Sloan into the family room where there were other people gathered. "Lets introduce you to the others. You've already met Madelaine and Lucien, this here is Michelle and Jeremiah." A girl and boy about his age waved in welcome to Sloan. Sloan was shocked to see a mirror image of Madelaine standing before him, he shook his head and opened and closed his eyes to see if he was seeing things. He looked from Maddie to Michelle, and back again, he couldn't tell one girl from the other. The only difference was Maddie was dressed in men's clothing and Michelle was in a dress. Sloan gazed at both girls with disbelief.

"Nope, you're not hallucinating, they really are identical copies" muttered Jeremiah with a grin. He held out his hand "Hello, please call me Jeremy. I'm sure Mikaela is around here somewhere" Jeremy moved in defensively to stand beside Michelle, Sloan figured that Jeremy had his territory marked.

"Who's Mikaela? Sloan asked, trying to take in all the changes rapidly occurring in his life today. It was beginning to be a bit much.

"She's my sister, younger sister" Maddie replied with a smirk.

"How many sisters are there?" Wow, twins he thought, Sloan had never met twins before.

"There's three, but the only person who can really tell them apart is Luc, and Aimee of course. Don't know how he does it though." Jeremy replied. Sloan had already picked up on the protective vibe coming from Luc around Madelaine, he looked over at Luc, he was a big lethal looking teen, he didn't want to tangle with him.

"Dinner time, you sit here Sloan." Maddie suggested, she indicated the seat next to her as the group moved into the dinning room. Sloan looked to Luc for permission, already correctly interpreting that he was the person in charge when it came to the group of kids. Luc nodded and Sloan took a seat. But the girl sitting next to him, who was dressed in men's clothing, wasn't Maddie, turns out it was someone else. Sloan watched the real Maddie take her seat next to Luc. She grinned and winked across the table at Sloan. Sloan turned to the girl next to him, his jaw dropped, it was yet a third identical copy. She turned to Sloan and grinned an identical mischievous grin as Maddie had. Sloan looked across the dinning table from the Maddie to the other girl in disbelief.

Holding out her hand to shake "Hi, I'm Mikaela, nice to meet ya."

"Don't be mad, we didn't mean any harm. Maddie and me, we play that little trick on most people, we love to see their facial reactions when they realize we switched places. Yours was good, I hope you'll be my friend?" Mikaela said with an inviting smile. Sloan was powerless to resist Mikaela's charm.

Dinner was always a rowdy event in the McCord household, everyone talking, laughing, eating, and being energetic. The girls were eager to share the events of their day with each other, the boys talking boisterously to be heard over the chatter of the girls. The adults sat at one end of the table and attempted to hold on to some sanity in the craziness. Sloan watched everything going on around him. He noticed that when the girls interacted, they spoke in their own almost special language, they understood what the other was saying before she spoke it, knew what was on the mind of the other, and finished each others sentences.

"Don't worry, we'll grow on ya" Michelle said from Sloan's other side at the table. Sloan grinned at Michelle and then Mikaela. This random group of characters was just perfect for him. He had never had a loving family, his parents were a distant blurry memory. He smiled at Martha, Amiee, and John at the head of the table and dug in to eat.

After dinner, Mikaela showed Sloan around the house. She explained everything in all the rooms, showed him his bedroom, geeze an entire room to himself, Sloan was flabbergasted. Each kid had their own room in the house. Even Jeremy, whose family lived just a few miles down the trail had a room in the house. Mikaela stayed close to Sloan those first few weeks under the watchful eyes of Luc and Jeremy, and he formed a close attachment to her. To the outside world, Sloan was presented as a McCord family member, and the McCord's defied anyone to say other wise.

The McCord kids wouldn't always see eye to eye perfectly, but it didn't matter where each of them came from, high society or orphan, no matter blood related or not. They were a family that all loved each other dearly. There's nothing more important in life than the bond of family.

December 2011

More Chapters coming…sorry this chapter spent so much time setting the background, actual characters from TYR will show up soon, promise!

PS…I don't have experience with diabetes, so forgive me if I got the symptoms wrong

Review please, I would be interested in your thoughts, if you liked it, how it can be improved, positive constructive advice, apprentice writer here, Thanks, Lee