Ike McSwain let his mind wander back to before he came to this place. He wasn't listening to the man standing before him. It didn't matter; he was in trouble and no one could save him. The people in charge here didn't ever try to find out his side of the story. He stood and thought about how much better his life had been before when he'd had a family to care for him. It was at times like these that he missed them the most.
"Excuse me, Father," a small quiet voice said.
The priest quit speaking, and Ike quickly returned to the present. The voice belonged to Sarah Johansson, the girl from town Ike was accused of attacking.
"It wasn't his fault," Sarah said a little louder than before. "Billy Cuthbert pushed him into me."
"That's not what the others said," Father Thomas said sharply as he turned his attention from Ike to the young lady.
"I don't care what the others said," Sarah replied coldly. "I'm not a liar, and my father, Mayor Johansson, will not be pleased when I tell him you implied that I am."
The priest softened as he remembered how important the mayor's support was. If it wasn't for Mayor Johansson, the children from town would be going to school it town instead of paying to come here. The money from their tuition was very important to the continued existence of the mission. He sighed, "I didn't mean. . ."
"Yes, you did," interrupted Sarah. "You meant for me to change my story to agree with everyone else's because it's easier that way. Well, I'm not changing my story – Ike didn't do anything wrong. He was showing me some newly born kittens. Billy Cuthbert came over, pushed Ike onto me, and then ran off screaming about Ike trying to hurt me." She stopped speaking because Father Thomas was looking out the window at the playground instead of her. She wanted to be sure she had his full consideration while she was speaking.
When she was sure she had regained his complete attention, she continued, "I didn't have a chance to say anything until now because no one bothered to ask me what happened, and I wasn't sure where you'd taken him. I really must insist that Ike be allowed to return to his business, and that if anyone is to be punished it should be Billy Cuthbert." She gave the priest a long stare before going to stand by Ike.
"Can you find those kittens again?" she asked softly as she turned to face Ike.
Ike nodded slowly. He wasn't sure exactly what was happening, but it looked like he was being rescued.
"That's wonderful! I'd love a chance to get a better look at them." Sarah smiled.
She turned to face the priest once more, "That is unless you have something else to say to him, Father."
The man knew he was beaten. He knew what she was saying was most likely true. The Cuthbert boy was a handful, but he was also one of the paying students whose parents lived in town whereas Ike was – well, Ike. "That's fine, Miss Johansson," he sighed. "You may both leave."
She smiled and took Ike by the hand. "Let's go before he changes his mind," she said.
Ike grinned shyly and left with a feeling of utter amazement. He had never gotten out of the office without some type of punishment. If he could speak it would have been to recite a litany of prayers, but since he had no voice it was usually a paddling. This was the first time he had ever gotten away free.
As he walked past Billy Cuthbert and his friends, Ike knew he'd regret the fact that he'd been spared later, but right now he didn't care. He'd been blessed with the presence of an angel, and she was continuing to keep him safe.
When they neared the barn, Sarah let go of Ike's hand. "I hope I didn't make things worse for you, but I just couldn't stand the thought of you getting punished for something you didn't do. I hate it when people pick on those less fortunate simply because. Someone needs to teach Billy Cuthbert that he's no better than anyone else just because his father is the sheriff."
Ike just grinned. He too disliked watching the town bullies picking on the mission kids. If he could, he'd tell them to stop. Since he couldn't do that, he had come up with a different plan. He made the town boys afraid of him by acting crazy and living up to all the stories about himself. When he caught them picking on anyone, he'd "go crazy" and chase them. This usually caused him some pain since the nuns would then try to "beat the devil out of him", but it was worth it to see the terror on the bullies' faces.
Ike sensed that Sarah knew what he was doing. He was pretty sure Sister Catherine did also, but he pretended he didn't understand what they meant when they talked to him. He wasn't ready to be cooped up inside all day, and if they realized he understood everything that's where he'd wind up – in school, right along side the Billy Cuthbert's of the world and he'd have lost his edge.
Ike felt the eyes of the other children on them as they continued walking. He knew they couldn't believe that anyone as beautiful and important as Sarah Johansson would have anything to do with the likes of him. He tensed and started to turn away back toward the dormitories, but Sarah put her hand on his arm. "It's alright," she whispered. "We just need to show them that he doesn't always win. Once they realize that, he won't be able to scare them so easily." They reached the stable and went inside. Ike quickly found the kittens and showed them to Sarah. He made sure she didn't get too close and frighten the mama cat. He sensed someone watching them closely, but could see no one. He also noticed that he didn't feel threatened – just watched.
Over the next couple of weeks, Ike had the sensation of being watched – sort of being looked after – much of the day. He could never catch anyone studying him so he decided he must just be paranoid – worried what Billy Cuthbert was plotting. Ike decided that if something didn't happen soon, he'd go pick a fight just to get it over with. "If nothing happens before the trip to town today," Ike told himself as he sat holding one of the kittens, "I'll start a fight right after mass in the morning." With that decided Ike put the kitten back with its mother and went to get ready for the trip to town.
The wagon ride in was uneventful. As soon as they arrived, Ike headed to the stables. He sat on the fence rail watching the animals and the activity on the street behind them. The feeling that someone was watching him returned briefly, he glanced up just it time to see the newest mission kid turn away and head toward the general store.
As Ike turned his attention back to the animals, he heard a familiar voice say, "Why don't you watch where you're going you stupid half-breed?"
He looked up just in time to see Billy Cuthbert and his gang surround the new boy. Billy pushed the boy and one of the others grabbed him. He held the boy tightly so Billy could move in and start punching him. Ike looked around, “There just ain’t time to go get help,” Ike thought as he jumped off the fence and started running toward the scuffle.
Disclaimer: Ed Spielman created the characters of The Young Riders for television. The series aired on ABC TELEVISION from 1989 - 1992. Thanks to everyone who helped by being a beta. I couldn’t have done this without you.
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