I do not own the Young Riders.
In the big city of Seattle, a small group of kids were thrusted into a state home for different but similar reasons. They had no one who was trusted enough to care for them, or they just had no one full stop.
Well that is what they thought, until it was getting closer for them to go their separate ways. At the age of eighteen they were deemed old enough to care for themselves, the state no longer provided them with a bed, or food.
In the next couple of days the small group were going to be saying goodbye to the eldest. And it was then that they realised that they were closer than what they had first thought. In fact they were a family, and the thought of being separated from each other put a downer in all of their moods.
They were each other's protector, confidant, and friend. They were all each other had and they were fast realising that they were all each other needed.
Jimmy was the oldest out of the bunch, a seventeen year old boy, with a seventeen year old chip upon his shoulder.
He was mad at the world and the people who wronged him, his parents being the biggest ones from a very long list.
He was shoved into the home the night his Fathers' fists ended his Mothers' life.
Jimmy use to cower under the dining table and watch as his father would continually raise his hand and fist to his mother nearly every other night. Jimmy would cry silently and wish he was bigger than his father so he could beat the shit out of him for once, but being only a seven year old boy, there was no way that was happening.
He was so angry with his mother for not having the courage to leave. Surely she could have packed herself and him up while the monster was at work, but she never did, and she paid miserably for not doing so.
Jimmy tried to stay out of trouble, wanting to keep to himself, but for some reason trouble was attracted to him.
Kid was orphaned one wet winter's night when his parents' car collided with a tree. They were killed instantly and only a few blocks away from their home.
Kid was only six and only remembers the pitied look on the officers' face as he stared down at Kid. He was taken to his Grandparents in Missouri, but after two weeks there they decided they were too old to be looking after a child, so they sent him back to the social worker who first sent Kid to them.
Over the next ten years Kid had been in and out of so many homes that he actually rather stay in the institution. After all he knew the people there, and he always knew where he was meant to be from day to day, and the people he shared his space with. Some of the families he was placed into were not fit to have children in their home.
Buck was one of five kids in his family. They all shared the same mother but their fathers were all different. She, like Jimmy's mother, was with the wrong man, and while he did not beat her down with his hands he bought her down with drugs.
Buck wasn't as lucky as his other brothers and sisters, their fathers wanted them so they had homes to go too. His oldest brother swore that he would come for Buck, but he never came.
Cody was taken from his mother when she was arrested for murder. His mother killed an undercover cop while she was selling herself. Of course she was just a small part in a bigger investigation, but all the same it was her prints that were found on the gun, no one else's.
Cody was ten, and a lot like Jimmy he had a chip on his shoulder, but while Jimmy tried to shy away from trouble, Cody seemed to go looking for it.
He was full of mischief and seemed to be living in a fantasy world most of the time.
Ike, a year younger than Cody was shy and more reserved than the other boys, of course being a mute didn't help.
No one knew how he lost the ability to talk, but Buck heard one of the teachers say it was a permanent thing. The group all started to learn sign language so they could communicate with him.
Ike was a lost soul.
Always the main character in everyone's jokes. Dummy, stupid, retard, were words that were thrown at him on a daily basis. Many times he thought about ending his life, but just when he would think that his life wasn't worth living, Buck, or one of his other friends would swoop in and pick him up.
He wondered if they had super powers that knew what he was thinking. But they didn't they just knew when their friend Ike was feeling blue.
Lou, the same age as Ike, 15 going on 16, thought how sad it was that she couldn't hear his voice. She longed to hear him laugh as his smile was one of the most beautiful one's she had ever seen.
Lou's mother, brother and sister were all killed in a horrific murder, to which she is the only one who knows who did it and how it happened.
Lou hid when she heard raised voices coming from the front door. She hid herself well so the attackers could not see her, but she could see them as clear as day.
If she had been found, she had no doubt that she would be six feet under. The police interrogated her for days but she would not give them anything. She felt that if they did their job properly then they would find the killer on their own. Of course six years later and she knew they still were no closer to arresting the man that did it.
Lou was placed into more homes than any of the boys. It seemed that foster homes more often than not wanted girls. This pissed the boys off to no end. They watched as Lou came and went, they saw the way it fucked with her mind and confidence every time. She was starting to lose herself and was slipping into a dark depression.
Kid and Jimmy both worried about what will happen to her and Ike when they were gone. They have looked into even fostering them themselves when they leave, but they would need financial stability and a home.
Jimmy turns eighteen in a weeks' time, Kid three days after him. They both had big ideas of finding a well paid job and a place close by so they could visit the others often.
Buck would turn eighteen a month after Kid and Cody four months after him. Then they would all have to wait for Ike and Lou, who were still just over two years away from that day.
Jimmy knew that anything could happen in that time, but he tried to stay positive that they would all end up back together.
Jimmy awoke to the sound of what some may say a riot, but it was just the sound of everyday life in this shit hole.
"Hey happy Birthday," Buck sung as he kicked Jimmy's cot. "Finally getting out of this place how does that feel?"
"Bittersweet." Jimmy told him truthfully. "Good to leave here, sad to be leaving a few of you behind."
"Won't be long till we are all free. We have lasted this long another year or two won't kill us." Buck joked, but he knew, like Jimmy did that, that wasn't completely true.
"Happy birthday," Kid rushed out as he ran into the room.
"Thanks, but what's the rush," Jimmy laughed looking at Buck who was also amused by Kid's eagerness.
"Lou is being fostered out, you might want to get up and say goodbye before she goes."
"God damn it," Jimmy hissed as he threw himself out of his cot. "She only got back three days ago, and she's still not talking about that place." Surely the councillors could see that it was tearing her apart.
Buck and Kid had seen a sad change in her as well. But there was nothing they could do. Buck actually wondered if it would be best if she and Ike just ran away from the home instead of waiting another two years.
Jimmy quickly pulled some clothes on and ran out to where the office was situated. A snooty looking woman was standing there looking down at Lou in disgust, while Lou looked down at the ground. He could see that the ladies lips were moving so he knew she was talking to Lou but he could not hear what was being said.
Lou showed no signs of listening to what she was being told, so Jimmy had a good idea that it was nothing good.
"Jesus Jimmy, can't you take her with you now?" Cody hissed, joining the rest of the boys.
Jimmy went to go and say goodbye, but watched as Ike rounded the corner to say goodbye first.
Lou threw her arms around his neck, talking quickly in his ear. Ike nodded and slipped something in her back pocket of her jeans.
"Stop hogging her," Jimmy joked with Ike who smiled over Lou's shoulder. Ike pulled away allowing Jimmy his turn to hug her. Lou's arms would not be able to reach Jimmy's neck so she wrapped them tight around his waist.
"Happy Birthday," she whispered softly.
"Thanks honey," he squeezed her tightly before telling her to stay safe and to just get through this year. She agreed before uttering and hugging her goodbyes with the rest of the boys.
By lunch time Jimmy was all signed off as an adult and he was packed up and ready to go. Sadly he said goodbye to the rest of the boys, with a promise to Kid that he would be waiting for him outside in three days time.
In those three days Jimmy stayed under a bridge, not being able to afford much more. He looked through papers for jobs and knocked on a few doors. The sudden realisation hitting him that it maybe not be as easy as he thought.
Just as planned Jimmy was waiting outside for Kid three days later. Ike, Buck and Cody were all there to say goodbye.
Buck knew it wasn't long before he too would be free. Cody on the other hand didn't think he would be able to see his couple of months out. He was getting itchy feet, and was tried with people in this place.
Unlike Jimmy, Kid was able to find work on his second day looking. It wasn't much, clearing tables at a local restaurant, but it was money and food.
Buck was getting out later today, so the boys were passing time by looking at the local stores.
"You know Jimmy, maybe you will have better luck finding a job if you cut your hair." Kid said with a smile. Jimmy's dark hair was now well past his shoulders, and most of the time looked messy.
"Funny." Jimmy stated.
An older man was listening to the friendly banter between the two boys.
"It shouldn't matter what my hair looks like, I'm a hard worker."
"I know that, and you know that, you just have to find a way to show someone else it." Kid acknowledged as he picked up a magazine with a horse on the front of it.
He had always dreamed of living on a ranch, in the middle of nowhere, answering to no one but himself and the land.
"I could see us all on a big ranch somewhere." Kid said aloud to Jimmy. Once again grabbing the older man's attention.
"Kid the only way that could happen is if we won the lottery." Jimmy told him.
"I can dream, can't I?" Kid snapped defensively.
"Course you can they're free." Jimmy said feeling bad that he may have hurt Kid's feelings, "We better go. We got Buck to get, jobs to find,"
"You will get a job." Kid reassured his friend.
As the two boys went to leave the store, the older man couldn't keep his mouth shut. From what he had heard and seen he knew that these two boys were just what his brothers' property needed.
"Ah excuse me boys, I don't mean to listen in on your conversation," The older man started, trying to gage what mood the boys were in. "You're looking for work?"
"Well geeze mister if you have work for me, you can butt in any time you like," Jimmy laughed.
"Yes, well it isn't me exactly, you see my brother, Teaspoon Hunter, and he's looking for station hands." Kid's eyes widened at this. "He lives in Wyoming, near the Laramie Mountains."
Kid was excited, but Jimmy was weary. "This all just seems to convenient mister."
"Jimmy would you shut your mouth before you ruin this opportunity for the both of us." Kid hissed under his breath.
"No Kid I won't just shut my mouth. This man over hears us talking and he just so happens to have your dream at the ready, I have a right to ask questions."
"You do son, but maybe they are best asked to Teaspoon himself. I will give you his details, it is up to you to contact him, I have done my part."
He pulled his wallet out of the back pocket of his jeans. He asked the shop keeper if he would mind lending him a pen and a piece of paper.
After copying Teaspoon's phone number and address on the paper he handed it to the boys. "Good luck," was all he said before walking away.
"Jimmy I can't believe you."
"I can't believe you, falling for that bullshit." Jimmy said still as sceptical as before.
Two months later and Buck, Jimmy and Kid were all living and working on Teaspoon's ranch. The place was beautiful, the air was clean and Teaspoon and Rachel were two of the nicest people the boys had ever met.
Jimmy's eagerness for hard work was soon put to the test, and has been everyday they are there. But he loved it, more than what he thought he would, though riding a horse was something that did not come natural for him.
Kid on the other hand must have been a cowboy in a past life. He took to it so naturally, and Jimmy loved that his friend was finally happy.
Buck, like Kid was also a natural, but he was missing Ike, Lou and Cody too much to really enjoy it. Cody was pissed off that the boys had a place to go and would be a long way away to visit. Ike and Lou on the other hand didn't say much, I mean what could they say.
They had no right in holding the others back, making them stay around here for another year. So they both told them how happy they were for them, even though the thought of them being so far away hurt.
One day the boys came up with an idea, and with a united front they all approached Teaspoon.
"Excuse me Mr Spoon," Kid begun, pulling Teaspoon away from the old green tractor that was continuously breaking down.
"Now son how many times do I have to tell you Teaspoon is all you have to call me, Rachel is only making fun when she calls me that."
"Sorry Teaspoon," Kid apologised. "Could we ask you something?"
"Sure," Teaspoon said, getting a feeling that this was going to need his upmost attention, so he put down his tools and sat down on the tire of the tractor.
"We were wondering if you could use some more help. There are still plenty of jobs that need doing, even after ours are done, and we know the right people that could help you." Teaspoon tried to rein in his smile.
"Oh you do, do you?" to which the boys nodded. "How many are we talking?"
"Three," Buck piped up. "Cody, Ike and Lou,"
"Three more boys," Teaspoon thought out loud, to which the boys all looked at each other wondering if they should correct him about Lou. "I don't think I can take three more on, one maybe, but not three."
"What if you kept one of our wages back, as if board for the other two?" Jimmy suggested.
"I'll think about it. In the mean time how bout you make a start on the fences in the west paddock."
The boys ran off hoping that Teaspoon would agree.
While the boys were out mending fences, Teaspoon got on the phone and made some inquires. Rachel had asked him to please bring the other boys here. She always wanted a big family but could never fall pregnant. She hated the thought that her boys were missing their friends.
Teaspoon got off of the phone with some good and bad news. He didn't know how Buck, Jimmy and Kid were going to take it, but hoped that they would be ok.
"So who was going to let me know that Lou is actually a girl?" Teaspoon asked as the boys sat down for their dinner.
Jimmy, Kid and Buck stared at one another, taken back at how Teaspoon knew that.
"I called that home you boys came from and inquired about your three friends. It seems to be that Cody ran away two weeks ago with a couple of other boys, and Lou or Louise it may seem, has been placed into a foster home as of last week. Ike is the only one there."
"Bloody Cody," Jimmy snapped.
"Ike will be joining us in a few days, I'm sorry about your other friends there was nothing I could do."
"Thanks Teaspoon, we appreciate it." Kid said with a long face. He was happy that Ike was coming here, but would have loved having Cody and Lou with them as well.
Would love to know what you think. I started copying The Price of War but this one seemed to write itself.