DISCLAIMER: The Young Riders is the creation of Ed Spielman, and the property of Ogiens/Kane productions in association with MGM/UA television. This Story is created for entertainment purposes only, no infringement intended. Not to be copied without permission from the author.
WARNING: This Story is a DEATHFIC, if this type of story is not to your liking or will somehow offend you please return to Tall Tales and choose another Story.
Teaspoon watched his riders carefully, his own grief held tightly in check, needing to keep control of his own emotions for his remaining riders. He, himself, could not believe that the decomposed body they had found was Buck’s, but his knife and vest were found as well, and he knew that Buck would never leave his knife. He mentally castigated himself yet again, he should have known something was wrong, Buck had been gone for little over a week, he should have gone looking for his Kiowa rider. God, if only he had done something, maybe the spiritual heart of their family would still be intact. Instead he had let himself believe that the young man had gone off as he was wont to do to pray to his Indian gods and search his soul. It was so close to the death of his best friend, Ike, Teaspoon had thought that he needed some time alone to come to terms with his grief. Now he had five other riders that needed him to be their strength.
He cast his tear glazed eyes over the rest of the ‘family”. The only person missing was Buck, and God in heaven only knew that he would never be returning to the bunkhouse again. He didn’t know who Buck’s demise would hit the hardest but he knew that one thing was certain. None of them would ever be the same again. His thoughts turned away from his own internal accusations by the sound of a quickly stifled sob.
Turning toward the sound he saw Rachel, her hand pressed against her lips where she had spent much of the past week. Standing by the window, almost as a sentinel for their missing family member. Teaspoon moved slowly to her side and put a work hardened hand on her shoulder.
Rachel felt Teaspoon’s hand on her shoulder, she knew that he could feel the sobs that were racking her body but she could no more control her sorrow and the sobs than harness the wind. Buck was gone. Sweet caring Buck, he may not have been the most vocal of the riders, but he was always there, his gentle hand, reassuring word, the voices of reason. What sort of trouble would the others get into without the gentle stabilizing force of the Kiowa boy they had all loved so dearly.
She had seen his all consuming pain when his best friend had been killed and hoped that at least now they were at peace together in heaven. There was no doubt in her mind that both of those gentle caring men were in a place where only the best of souls could travel. She placed one hand over Teaspoon’s trying to give him some strength, he was having such a hard time holding himself together, losing two of his boys within the same week almost. She knew he thought of all the riders as sons and she knew that he was blaming himself for Buck’s death, yet still he was trying to maintain some semblance of control for the sake of the remaining boys.
She couldn’t bear to turn and see the pain in the faces of her ‘family’, so she placed her hand over Teaspoon’s on her shoulder, and continued to gaze sightlessly out the window.
Teaspoon knew that Rachel was dealing with her grief in the only way she knew how, so he turned his attention to Lou and the boys. Of all the boys he knew that Kid was going to be the hardest hit. Kid had been searching tirelessly for his friend for the last three days, ever since Buck’s horse had come home riderless, and had had the misfortune of being the one that made the gruesome discovery. He looked at him now, the younger man’s eyes glazed with pain and regret. Even Lou’s gentle touch did not seem to register to him as he sat, with her in his embrace yet alone in his thoughts. Teaspoon was proud of him, however, the unofficial leader of the riders, he had managed to keep a tight hold on his crumbling emotions and bring Buck’s body back to town, making arrangements with the undertaker before returning to the waystation. He had wanted to spare the others seeing the remains that had been ravaged by time and nature. He had wanted them to remember their friend as he had been the last time they saw him. Kid had calmly ridden to the waystation told his boss everything that he knew and then rode his beloved Katy out across the plains. The wind no doubt drying his tears.
Kid could feel Teaspoon’s eyes on him, but there was nothing that he could do to stop the thoughts that were jumbled in his mind. If only he had seen the pain that Buck was suffering after Ike’s death. His blue eyes clouded with pain as he castigated himself, he knew that Buck would have wanted an indian burial but to save the others the pain of seeing his battered remains he had automatically taken Buck’s body to the undertaker. God if only he had been more aware of Buck’s feelings they wouldn’t be needing to endure this pain now.
Lou sat beside her beloved Kid trying to offer him whatever support she could, all the while soaking up the comfort of being in his embrace. Teaspoon shook his head as he watched the tears travel down her pretty face, how did he not see her as the beautiful young lady she really was. She made no move to hide her sorrow her tears falling freely as she gently stroked the arm of the man whose embrace she was caught in.
Lou couldn’t help her tears, Buck was her brother, he may not be by blood but he certainly was in all the ways that mattered. She didn’t think that she would ever really accept that he was gone. He couldn’t be, not so soon after Ike. Their little family was disintegrating and none of them could stop it.
Cody sat on the edge of his bunk his face in his hands, his tears wetting his fingers. He had never expected to feel so much pain without being physically hurt. He knew that he and Buck had never been really close, in fact he knew that he was one of the few people that could make Buck really mad. But at the word of his death he hadn’t expected to feel that part of his soul was being ripped away either. He raised his head to look at how the others were coping, scanning the room carefully, his eyes met the angry gaze of Jimmy and quickly looked away almost frightened by the anger he saw there.
Jimmy was furious, he couldn’t logically explain his anger. He was angry at Buck for making him feel this way. Angry that he felt helpless and out of control, angry that no one had thought that this could happen to Buck. Dammit, angry at himself for not realising just how upset Buck had been the last time he saw him. Hell the last time he saw him he had made fun of Buck’s feeling. But none of his anger compared to the pain that he felt that Buck thought his last words were making fun of him. Jimmy looked around the room and knew that no matter how much these people were a part of him, he couldn’t’ stay in this room with them a minute longer. He stood and stormed out of the room heading towards the back of the waystation to practice, taking his anger out on bottles.
Noah sat at the end of the table his heart filled with pain at the death of his friend and watched the others as they tried to cope with Buck’s passing. He listened to Jimmy’s pain as he shot bottles from fenceposts outside and saw the pain in the faces of his other friends. He knew that no matter how hard he tried to push them away the people that surrounded him were rapidly becoming his own family and he couldn’t help but feel that he had lost a brother when Buck died. Of all the boys, he felt the most kinship with Buck, another of society’s outcasts. His musing were interrupted by the sound of a horse riding towards the station.
Teaspoon heard the horse approaching and wished that whoever it was would give them a little peace to come to terms with their pain, but he was unprepared for the wide smile that crossed Rachel’s face as she watched the outside world. Nor was he prepared for her to run toward the door and fling it open, almost tripping over her skirts in her hast to get outside. The boys looked out the door stunned at what they saw, but sure they were dreaming it.
Knocking over the benches in their haste to join Rachel and Teaspoon outside, they couldn’t take their eyes from the vision they saw. They stood on the porch an watched as with gentle hands teaspoon helped their obviously hurt friend from the back of a strangers horse.
Buck looked into the pained faces of his friends wondering what had upset them so. Seeing Jimmy missing he steeled himself against the pain that he knew was coming. Weakened by his own injuries, he stood tentatively beside the horse unprepared for the force of Rachel pulling him into a tight embrace. Rachel hugged him tightly then put him away from her holding his face between her hands looking at him closely.
“Why is everybody looking so upset?” he spoke quietly “Where is Jimmy?” he didn’t want to ask but he couldn’t help himself he had to know
“He out shooting cans son” Teaspoon spoke
“We thought you were dead Buck” Rachel answered him seeing for the first time just how weak he really was
“What happened to you?” Teaspoon asked as he helped Rachel manoeuvre him towards the bunkhouse
The other riders who until now had been silent swarmed around them Cody taking the strangers horse as he dismounted.
“Perhaps I could answer that for you” he spoke quietly
“Please” Teaspoon asked of him as he helped Buck to sit on the rocking chair on the porch.
“About four days ago, I found Buck unconscious and a dead man in the mountains, they had obviously fought and I assume that Buck was the winner, but he had lost a lot of blood and I didn’t think he would make it.” I took him back to my cabin and by the time he was well enough for me to leave alone and I return to bury the other man his body was gone.” He spoke watching the love for the young man he had rescued in the faces of all of the people present. “I see now why he has been on insisting on coming back to you people since he woke yesterday” he acknowledged the feeling of the people crowding his patient
“Thank you for saving his life” Teaspoon spoke his voice filled with sincerity. Buck struggled to rise to his feet and strongly grasped the man’s hand.
“Thank you my friend” he spoke “I owe you my life” he spoke his chocolaty eyes misty as he realised just how close to death he had been.
“It was nothing Buck” he spoke then turned to the others “I must get back to my cabin now” he spoke before taking his horses reins from Cody and mounting up
They all watched as Buck’s unnamed saviour rode from the waystation, and laughed as Jimmy walked around the corner of the bunkhouse and saw Buck sitting on the stairs.
“Dammit” he swore “Does someone want to tell me what is going on?”
“Seems that it wasn’t Buck we buried today Jimmy” Teaspoon spoke
“It was Black Wolf” Buck spoke softly his eyes distant
“I went hunting, I had to get away for a while and I ran into him he still hasn’t forgiven me for what happened with Jenny and confronted me.” He paused “I killed him but he hurt me and that man found me and saved me”
“Kid found the body and thought it was yours” Cody spoke a silly grin on his face
“Your knife and vest were with it” Kid explained Buck nodded weakly, he was in a great deal of pain and he wanted nothing more than to sleep but at the moment there was no place he would rather be. All he could think of the past two days, was getting back to these people he called family, knowing they would be worried about him. Knowing that if one of them was missing he would move heaven and earth to find the ones that he loved.
Teaspoon looked at his family and smiled to himself, the day that had started out so bleakly was now filled with sunshine again. His family was almost whole again and he would make sure that it stayed that way for a good while yet.
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