The Voice by Karen Entry #2 in the Sweetwater Station "Bits and Pieces" contest

Disclaimer: The characters of The Young Riders were created for television by Ed Spielman. The series aired on ABC TELEVISION from 1989 - 1992.  Many thanks to Sameena for being my beta. You’re the greatest!

Ike glared at Cody. After all he’d been through, he had been looking forward to some quiet time working with Samson, the mule. He’d entered the bunkhouse just in time to see Cody finish eating a carrot -- Samson’s carrot! He should have known better than to leave them out on his bunk while he’d gone to get himself cleaned up. He knew Cody was here today, and not on a run. He also knew it was a still few hours until dinnertime. How could he have been so thoughtless? Still, they had been on his bunk. As he went to put away his things, he shot Cody his best “you’ve really done it now” look.

Cody looked at Lou as Ike went past. “What did I do?” he asked.

Lou shrugged, and glanced at Kid who sat reading the newspaper. “Where’d you find your snack?” Kid asked Cody.

Cody glanced at the carrot tops sitting on the table in front of him. “They were right next to that rolled up newspaper Ike brought in,” he said.

Lou glanced at Ike who was putting his things away. He let his trunk lid bang shut as he turned to leave. He started to say something, but decided against it and just stormed out. 

He heard Cody say, “I don’t know why he’s so upset. It’s only a couple of carrots.” Then he lay down on his bunk and returned to reading his newest dime novel.

Ike headed towards the river hoping to find Buck. He really needed to talk to someone. There had been some very strange things happening to him lately, and he needed someone to help him make sense of them. He began to calm down as he continued to walk. He had been hoping to spend some time working with Samson and collecting his thoughts about the past day’s events, but since Cody had eaten his carrots, he wouldn’t be able to do that. Samson was still too afraid of people since he had only recently been caught. The only way Ike could get near him was to use food. 

Ike had been right about where to find Buck  As Ike approached, it appeared that Buck was close to finishing. Ike decided not to bother him until he had completed his washing up. If Buck’s day had been anywhere as strange as Ike’s, he would need to be undisturbed.

Ike sat down nearby and waited. As he sat, he watched a lizard sunning itself and pondered the recent !events . . . .

Things started off yesterday pretty much the same as always. We got up, ate breakfast, did our chores. Since it was my turn to take the run I had time to spend with Samson. I’d been trying to get him to trust me, but I wasn’t having much luck. I had just about gotten him coaxed over to the fence when I heard Kid call, “Rider coming.” I left Samson, quickly mounted my horse, took the monchila from Jimmy, and was on my way. 

The run went well. I made excellent time and even had time to get cleaned up before a really nice meal that included one of my favorite dishes -- baked beans sweetened using a jar of molasses.

After supper, I’d played cards for a while and then settled into bed. My return run was early in the morning so I wanted to get some rest. The best part of the whole thing was that I even talked Mrs. Evers, the stationmaster’s wife, into giving me a couple of carrots for Samson. I was really exc!ited about getting back to Sweetwater and working with the mule. Maybe with these carrots I could get him to trust me.

Ike shook his head as he began to work his way through this next part of the previous day’s events.  He glanced up and saw Buck watching him.

“Something wrong?” Buck asked.

Ike grinned. How was he going to answer that question?  He started to nod, changed his mind, and finally, just shrugged.

“What do you mean, you don’t know?” Buck asked.

Ike paused and then answered,  I’m not exactly sure something’s wrong. It was a strange run, and then; when I got home Cody ate Samson’s carrots. I could just be overly upset about that.

“You want to talk about it?” Buck asked as he joined Ike  on the ground. 
“Maybe I can help.”

Ike nodded, But I’m not sure what to tell you.

“Start with when you left here.” Buck suggested. “Everything was alright then, wasn’t it?” 

Ike nodded.  Everything was fine until . . .

“Last night,” Buck supplied when Ike let the sentence drop.

Ike looked up surprised and nodded again.

“I knew it,” said Buck. “I could tell last night that something was wrong, but I never could figure out what or who was concerned. So, what happened? You alright?” 

I’m fine, Ike replied. Just confused and still unsure about exactly what happened.

It was Buck’s turn to nod.

Ike continued,  It had been a good evening. I’d won a little bit of money at poker, and managed to get some carrots for Samson. I went to bed not too long after dark because I had to get up early to head back here.

Ike sighed. He let his hands rest for a few seconds before continuing,  I woke up and right away sensed something was wrong. For one thing, I was wrapped in a pink feather boa and I have no idea where it came from. It was a lot like the one I brought home after that night on the town with Jeb, but Emma got rid of that one I think. Anyway, I managed to get untangled from it and got up. That’s when I noticed that it was still dark outside, and that everyone else had disappeared.

Again, Ike paused to gather his thoughts. As he tried to figure out how to explain this next part, Buck spoke, “You were alone in what looked to be the bunkhouse?”

Ike nodded.

“Everyone else was missing? What about all the other stuff? Was everything gone?”

Ike shook his head. Besides my bed, there was an old shoe in the middle of the floor. Just one old shoe, he replied.

“That’s odd,” said Buck. “So, what did you do?”

I went outside to see if my horse was still in the stable. The stable was a shambles and there wasn’t a horse there. That’s when I knew I wasn’t at the way station anymore.  Ike stopped. He was remembering how lost and afraid he had felt. It was the same feeling he had experienced when he’d first woke up in the mission after his family was killed. He never wanted to feel that way again.

“You alright?” Buck asked suddenly concerned about Ike’s health. The color had all drained from his face and he looked like a little lost puppy. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost or something.”

Ike smiled weakly and took a ragged breath.

Buck remembered the helplessness he had felt the night before when he had awakened from a sound sleep sure something was terribly wrong only to find everyone else sleeping soundly. He knew now that he had somehow been sharing Ike’s experience. “You felt lost and afraid, didn’t you?” he asked. “So did I when I woke up last night.”

Ike nodded.  I still don’t know how I got there. It’s scary. I figure that somehow the other riders had tied me up in the boa and then moved me out of the bunkhouse to play a joke or something, but still . .

Buck agreed, “I understand how you felt. It is frightening to wake up someplace different then you went to sleep.  You realized you were in the wrong place, 
and. . .”

Ike took up his story, Once I figured out that it was me - not everyone else - that had moved, I decided to see if I could figure out where I was. I explored my new surroundings for a few minutes and soon determined that I was at the old hunting shack on the other side of the hill. I managed to make it back to the way station. Everyone was still sleeping so I just went back to bed and tried not to think about everything.

Later, when I woke up again, it was late. I had overslept and almost didn’t get ready to make the run on time. I somehow managed to get ready a few seconds before I had to go by skipping breakfast.

Ike paused. The really strange part was still to come.

Buck waited quietly. He could tell that Ike was gathering his thoughts to be able to continue.

Soon Ike started, I went back to the place I thought I had been. The shack was there, and so were the run down stables, but the boa and the shoe were missing. Of course, if the others had been playing a trick on me, they had plenty of time to go back and retrieve those items. I had about decided it was all a dream until . . .  Ike again stopped. He wasn’t sure he believed this next part. He didn’t know how to tell it without sounding crazy.

Ike looked at Buck and realized that if anyone would understand this, Buck would. He took a deep breath and continued,  until I heard the voice. It told me that I needed to be ready for some unpleasant times ahead. At this point, I was sure it was one of the others playing a trick on me, but no one else was there. It would have been hard to miss seeing them. There was no place to hide except inside the shack, and the voice sounded as if it was right next to my ear. Like someone whispering a secret to me.   Ike stopped.

Buck looked at him with a serious expression. Ike was relieved to see he wasn’t laughing. “Did it say anything else? Give you any details?” Buck asked.

Ike shook his head.  It just repeated, “Beware of the unpleasant road ahead. Your friends will try, but none can help you. You must face this task alone.”
Ike hesitated when he noticed that Buck was not looking at him. In fact, Buck was looking at nothing in particular; he was lost in thought. Suddenly, he noticed that Ike had stopped signing and was waiting.

“Sorry,” Buck said. “I was trying to remember something that would help this make sense. Did it tell you anything else?”

Ike nodded. I asked it to tell me more. It said, “I cannot tell you more than this. Beware of the unpleasant road ahead. Your friends will try, but none can help you. You must face this task alone, but it will pass and you will be stronger.” He paused. Then I asked him who he was. He replied, “I Only Speak the Truth.” Then there was silence. The voice didn’t speak again. I waited as long as I could and tried to get it to say more, but nothing happened. I gave up, left and finished the run. I got here, cleaned up, then got upset with Cody for eating Samson’s carrots, and finally, ended up here.

Any ideas what it all means?  Ike concluded.

Buck shook his head. “It must be some type of warning. Someone or something is trying to let you know that some bad times are coming; who or whatever it is also wants you to know that things will work out if they are given time.But, I have no idea what it could be talking about. Sorry. I guess we’ll just have to be aware of things and remember this message; so that when something does happen you’ll know that it will pass. If we do that; things will work out alright.  Other worldly messages should always be taken seriously.”

Buck stood, “Now, let’s go see what we can do about Samson’s carrots. I’m sure we can make Cody give up something in return.”

Ike stood to join his friend, and together they went to face the unknown and Cody.

.