Easter Eggs, And Other Minor Inconveniences

by
Aimee

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.

"Cody! Would you watch out!" Lou reached out to stop the eggs from rolling off the table as Cody set his stuff down with a thud. Three of the eggs escaped her outstretched arm and fell with a splat to the floor. "Thanks a lot Cody," Lou said. "You'd better clean that mess up before Rachel sees it."

"Sorry, Lou. But I think you're gonna have to clean it up."

"Me!"
>
"Yeah, you. If you had caught them, the eggs would never have fallen. Besides, I gotta ride." Cody pulled on his gloves, grabbed his stuff, and headed out the door.

"Cody!" Lou yelled.

"Sorry Lou! I gotta ride!"

"I swear," Lou mumbled under her breath. "When Cody gets back..."

"Hey Lou," Kid said, walking into the bunkhouse. "I got you something on my run." He started to drop his stuff on the table so he could pull her present out of his pocket.

"Kid, don't you dare drop that on this table," Lou glared at him. Kid backed away from the table.

"What did I do?" Kid sounded hurt, and Lou was instantly sorry.

"Nothing, I'm sorry." She stood up to hug him. Kid dropped his stuff on the table to return her hug, and the rest of the eggs rolled onto the floor. "Ahhh!" she groaned. "Get out of here."

Kid made a hasty retreat outside. Lou was in a bad mood, and he sure wasn't going to bother her. *I wonder where everyone else is,* he thought. He found them in the barn. Jimmy and Noah were playing cards on a bale of hay, and Buck was whittling a block of wood. Ike was drawing something on his sketch pad. "Why are you all out here?" Kid asked.

"Have you been in the bunkhouse yet?" Jimmy asked.

"He couldn't have," Noah replied. "He's still alive."

"She's been like this all day?" Kid asked.

"Well, I guess you have been in there. How'd you survive?" Jimmy teased him.

"I barely made it," Kid grinned. "When I walked in there were broken eggs on the floor and Lou looked like she wanted to murder somebody. She was mumbling something about Cody under her breath. What's going on?"

"Rachel and Lou have been working on some kind of project all day. They won't tell us what, but it involves cooking."

"No wonder Lou is in such a bad mood," Kid laughed.

"Cody must have broken the eggs," Buck said. "He's lucky he had to take that ride, or she probably would have killed him."

Kid looked sheepish.

"What?" Jimmy asked.

"He dropped his stuff on the table and made some eggs roll onto the floor."

"How do you know that?" Buck asked.

"Because I just did the same thing!" The boys all burst out laughing.

"In that case, you'd probably better stay out here with us then," Jimmy said, picking up the cards. "Wanna play some poker?"

"Sure," Kid said. "Deal me in."

"Hey, Ike," Noah said. "Let's see what you are drawing."

*Nope,* Ike shook his head.

"Come on," Jimmy pleaded. "Why not?"

*Its a surprise.*




"Lou?" Rachel stood in the doorway, surprised at what she saw. Broken eggs were all over the floor and Lou sat at the table, her head in her arms. "Lou, are you okay? What happened?"

Lou looked up. "Rachel, do you think 'they drove me crazy' is a good defense for murder?"

Rachel laughed. "Something tells me one of the boys had something to do with this." She looked at the broken eggs on the floor as Lou nodded. "Who?"

"Cody and Kid," Lou said, still angry at them.

"So why aren't they cleaning it up?"

"Cody had a ride, and I was so angry at Kid that he's probably hiding out with the rest of the boys."

Rachel laughed again. "Cheer up Lou! I'll clean this up while you run over to Tompkin's store and get some more eggs."

Lou managed to smile. "Okay Rachel. I'll be back soon."




Lou began to feel better as she rode toward Sweetwater. She smiled to herself as she thought about the scene that had just taken place in the barn.

She had walked in to saddle Lightning. Noah, Jimmy, Kid, and Buck had been laughing at something, but they stopped as soon as she walked in. They all immediately began to stare intently at their cards, pretending she wasn't there. Lou wasn't really angry anymore; after all, Kid didn't mean to break the eggs. Of course, she wasn't going to let them know she wasn't still angry; they could be really nice when they were trying to get on her good side. They had been quite uncomfortable the whole time she was there. Sometimes her mischievous side took over. It really was quite fun!

As she rode into town, Lou noticed a commotion outside Teaspoon's office. She tied Lightning up outside Tompkin's store and walked over to the crowd to find out what was going on. Teaspoon held up his hands to silence the gathered townspeople.

"Mrs. Stevens," he turned to the woman standing beside him. "Why don't you calmly tell me what happened."

Lou looked at Mrs. Stevens. She was a widow with a three-year-old son. She held the boy in her arms, and Lou could tell he was crying, even as he hid his tiny head in his mother's shoulder.

"I was hanging up the wash, and Bobby was playing out behind the house. I heard him screamin' like something was after him. When I ran to check on him, I found him screaming and crying, and then I saw it running off in the woods."

At this, the townspeople began shouting again, and Teaspoon had to wait a few minutes for the commotion to die down again. He tried once more to get the true story from Mrs. Stevens.

"What did it look like ma'am?" he asked.

"It was huge! At least six feet tall! It was furry and white. That's all I saw. It was running through the trees, so I couldn't see very well."

"It's a wild beast Marshal!" called one of the townspeople.

"It tried to attack Bobby Stevens Marshal. It's a danger to all of us," shouted another. "I say we hunt it down!"

This brought shouts of agreement from the rest of the crowd. *If Teaspoon doesn't do something soon, they're going to riot,* Lou thought. It was starting to look as if she was right when Tompkins and the owners of the feed store, the livery, and the saloon stepped up beside Teaspoon.

*Oh, no,* she thought. *I can only imagine what's coming next.*

Tompkin's next words proved her suspicions right. "Now some of us business men have gotten together, and we are willing to pay $100 to whoever brings this creature in, dead or alive!"

At this, the crowd quickly dispersed. The men left to get their horses and guns so they could go after the beast, and the women went home, herding their children inside where they would be safe. Lou headed toward Teaspoon's office.

"Hi, Lou," Teaspoon said as she walked in. "Guess you heard all about it huh?"

"Yeah, Teaspoon. What are you going to do?"

"Not much I can do." Teaspoon smirked at her. "How would you and the boys like to earn $100?"

"As nice as that sounds Teaspoon, I just don't think I'm in the mood to go chasing after a camel today." They both laughed at the memory of the last "wild beast" that had plagued Sweetwater. Lou and the boys had eventually caught it, but it turned out to be a camel rather than a wild monster.

"Besides, Teaspoon, last time you absolutely forbid us to go after the thing. Why are you changing your mind now?"

"Well, Lou, this time seems different to me. Nobody has been hurt, and Mrs. Stevens didn't even get a very good look at it. She was so upset that her mind was probably playing tricks on her," he smiled. "Besides, there's a bunch of crazy men wandering around this territory, ready to shoot at anything that moves. You boys, sorry Lou, and girl, would be more careful. I'd feel a whole lot better if you were out there."

Lou laughed. "Are you talking about the same boys I am Teaspoon? The ones who live at the Express Station and have given you most of that gray hair?"

Teaspoon grinned. "I guess I'm just desperate huh?"

"I'll send them out here as soon as I get back. Too bad Cody's out on a run. He's gonna be disappointed when he gets back and hears that he missed out on earning $100." Lou didn't sound disappointed for Cody. In fact, she was kind of happy. She was still a little angry at him. "It'll sure be nice to have them out of the way for a while," she added as she walked out. She quickly got the eggs from Tompkin's store and headed back to the station. The boys were still in the barn when she got there.

"Hey, Lou," Kid said cautiously.

"Teaspoon wants to see you boys right away. He's got some tracking for you to do; there's even a reward," Lou said, ignoring Kid.

"What is it?" Jimmy asked.

"Can't say."

"Oh, come on Lou! Just give us a hint?"

"Nope. Sorry Jimmy. You're just going to have to ask Teaspoon."

The boys hurried to saddle their horses and ride into town. Ike stayed behind; he had a run to make later, and besides, now he could work on his drawing in peace. Lou watched them ride off then took the basket of eggs inside where Rachel was stirring the stew she was making for dinner. She looked up as Lou entered.

"Did I just hear the boys ride off? Dinner will be ready soon."

"Sorry Rachel. Teaspoon needed them." Lou told her all about what had happened in town earlier. "Now, they can have a little fun, and we can work in peace," she finished. "Ike stayed though. He'll probably want to eat before his run. And I'm sure Cody will be hungry when he gets back. Of course, if it was me, I would feed him raw eggs."

Rachel laughed. "Glad to see you don't hold a grudge Lou."

Lou smiled. "Sorry Rachel. I guess I am overreacting a little. Now, what can I do?"




"Do you see anything Buck?" Jimmy was getting impatient. After all, everyone else had already been searching for a while. He really wanted to get that reward.

"Now Jimmy, have patience," Kid admonished. "If we want Buck to get us on the right trail he has to be thorough. In the long run, it will save time."

Jimmy just glared at Kid. Sometimes his patience and perspective was really annoying. Kid, being as stubborn as Jimmy, just glared back. Noah, sensing one of their infamous fights about to start, stepped between them.

"Now boys, I know you haven't had a fight in over a week, so you're probably suffering from withdrawal, but now is not the time or the place. It will just waste time and keep us from tracking whatever it is that we're trying to catch."

Both boys had the grace to look sheepish. "Sorry, Kid," Jimmy said. "I'm just itchin' to go after this thing."

Kid just smiled. "Me too, Jimmy."

"Good," Noah said. "Now that we're all friends again, let's see how Buck's doing."

They looked over to where Buck was standing at the edge of the woods. He looked like he was about to laugh at something. "Are you boys finished?" he asked, "or would you rather continue to make up instead of tracking?"

"Let's go get it!" Jimmy said.




Two hours later the boys were incredibly puzzled. They had been following the mysterious creature's tracks for the past two hours and now they just, well, ended...kind of.

"I just don't get it!" Jimmy said.

Buck shook his head. "Me neither. This creature's tracks indicate that it runs and walks just like a man. And now..." he looked confused.

"The tracks become human all of a sudden," Noah finished for him.

"I just don't know what to make of it," Buck shook his head.

"Buck, look at this," Kid called from further down the trail. The boys all hurried to catch up with him. When they did, they were amazed at what they saw.

"I'm seeing it, but I just don't believe it," Noah said, as they all looked to where the Kid was pointing. Caught on one of the bushes was a small tuft of fur...white fur.

"This is getting crazy," Jimmy said. "What are we going to do?" This was addressed toward Kid. Jimmy had a nagging feeling that if anyone called off the search, it would be the Kid. It wasn't that Kid was yellow, but sometimes he was too concerned with doing the right thing and playing by the rules to suit Jimmy. He needn't have worried though.

"What do you mean 'what are we going to do'?" Kid responded, a little too defensively. "We're going to catch ourselves a wild beast."

Jimmy grinned. "I was hoping you'd say that."

"Well, then," Noah said. "Let's go."




"Hey Ike," Lou said, walking into the barn. "Rachel sent me to find you. Dinner's ready."

Ike nodded. *I'll be in in a minute,* he signed.

"What's that?" Lou asked, pointing to his drawing. Ike just smiled. "You're not going to tell me are you?" Lou teased.

*Nope. You'll just have to wait and see just like everyone else.*

"Well, then," Lou said, sticking her nose so high in the air that Ike almost fell over laughing. "I won't tell you what Rachel and I have been working on all day." She sounded extremely self-satisfied.

*That's okay,* Ike returned. *I can wait to find out.*

Lou laughed. "You know, you're impossible," she said.

*That's funny,* Ike just couldn't resist throwing in the last word. *Kid always says the same thing about you.*

Lou couldn't think of a good comeback for that, so she just punched Ike playfully in the shoulder. "Come on," she said. "Let's go eat."




"Don't let Jimmy cook the beans," Kid warned. "You remember what happened last time."

"Yeah, Jimmy," Buck laughed. "We'd like to be able to eat tonight."

"Shut up," Jimmy growled. But he wasn't really mad. He would actually rather let someone else do the cooking anyway.

The boys had stopped to camp for the night since it was too dark to track anymore. They decided to set up watch all night, more for protection against the others who were hunting the creature than from the creature itself. Or at least that's what they told themselves. After all, some of those men would probably shoot first and ask questions later. And they were sure some of them would do whatever it took to get that $100 prize; even if it meant shooting the competition. But, even though they hadn't admitted it to each other, something strange was going on, and this left a nagging hint of fear in each of them. So Kid took the first watch as the others settled in for the night. Soon, all that could be heard were the usual night sounds of the forest and Jimmy's snoring. The latter soon stopped, though not until Buck threw a stick at him.





"Ride safe Ike!" Lou called as Cody passed the mochila and Ike rode off. "Hey Cody, how was your ride?"

"Not bad. But right now all I can think about is food and sleep."

"Cody, that's all you ever think about," Lou pointed out with a smile. "Why don't you go on inside; I'll take care of your horse."

"Thanks Lou. Oh, and I'm sorry about the eggs earlier."

"That's okay Cody."

"Did you happen to make anything with the rest of them? Right now, I'm so hungry I could even eat your cooking!" He laughed as Lou glared at him and hurried inside before she decided to do more than glare. Rachel had heard him ride up, and knowing the first thing he would want would be something to eat, she was setting a bowl of stew on the table.

"Gee thanks Rachel," he said. "All I want is something to eat and to sleep for the rest of the night."

"Sorry Cody," Rachel said. "But the rest of the boys are out doing some...um hunting, for Teaspoon, and Lou can't do all the chores herself. She and Ike got most of them done, but she could use your help with the rest."

"Aw, Rachel," Cody complained. "Can't they wait until tomorrow?"

"I'm sorry Cody," Rachel said firmly. "But you know that all the horses have to be fed and put up for the night. Plus I need some wood brought into both my house and the bunkhouse. Tomorrow, I'll need you to do some repairs around here. Part of the corral fence is becoming weak, and there's a leak in my porch roof, right over my swing."

"Why does this always have to come up when I'm the only one here?" Cody mumbled to himself around a bite of stew. Rachel only smiled and turned back to what she had been doing when Cody came in.

"What kind of hunting does Teaspoon have the boys doing?" Cody wondered suddenly. Rachel told him what Lou had told her about the riot in town. She left out the part about the $100 reward though. Knowing Cody, he would forget all about sleep and try to catch up with the other boys. Or, most likely, he would attempt to track the creature himself, so that he wouldn't have to share the reward.

Cody quickly finished eating and left to go get the chores done. Lou was feeding the horses, so he decided to get the wood carried inside for Rachel. Because his thoughts never strayed far from food, he vaguely wondered what Lou had been doing with all those eggs. He hadn't noticed any baking or cooking in the bunkhouse. *Oh, well,* he thought. *If Lou was cooking they probably just threw it all out when she was done.*





Jimmy struggled to stay awake. He hated losing sleep, so having the third watch was not much fun at all. He glanced enviously over to the campfire where Kid, Buck, and Noah were all asleep. He still had a couple hours before he could wake Buck to take the last watch, and he wasn't sure he would be able to stay awake that long. He decided to walk around a little to keep from going to sleep. Standing up, he began to walk a little way from the camp. He wondered why they hadn't met up with any of the other men trying to get the reward. Something strange was going on with this whole thing. He just hoped it would be over soon. He was supposed to have three days off, and he had already wasted one of them on what was probably just a wild goose chase. Why couldn't they learn their lesson? Look what happened last time. They caught a camel, and didn't even get to keep the reward.

Jimmy was so lost in his thoughts that he almost didn't notice he had come to a small clearing. A cabin stood in the middle, with a small shed and an outhouse behind it. But it was something on the porch that caught his attention. A large mass of white fur lay next to the door!

"Ah ha! Gottcha!" Jimmy said to himself. Drawing his gun, he cautiously approached the sleeping beast. He didn't want to kill it unless he had to, so he picked up a large stick to hit the creature and hopefully knock it out. He was almost to the porch when the cabin door flew open and an old man stood in front of him. He pointed a shotgun at Jimmy.

"Stop right where you are!" he said threateningly.

"I'm not trying to hurt you!" Jimmy called. "I'm just trying to catch that white creature there. It's a wild beast that's a possible danger to Sweetwater."

The man lowered his shotgun. "I figured something like this would happen," he chuckled softly. "That little boy was screaming something fierce. Let me guess. There's a reward to whoever captures it."

Jimmy nodded. "$100."

The man began to laugh harder. "Son," he said. "That's no wild beast."




An hour later Jimmy walked back into camp. "Kid! Noah! Buck! Get up!" The three boys quickly sat up, drawing their guns.

"What's going on?" Kid asked sleepily.

"Oh," Jimmy said with a mysterious grin. "I just thought you would like to meet our 'wild beast'."

"What are you talking about?" Noah was confused. Jimmy didn't make much sense at normal times, but now that he was tired, it was even worse.

"You caught it?" Buck asked.

"Well, I guess you could say that. Boys, here's our beast!"

A large, furry white creature walked into camp. Jimmy doubled over with laughter at the looks on his friends' faces.

"What the heck..." Noah began.

"I don't believe it!" Buck exclaimed. "It's a...a..."

"It's a giant rabbit!" Kid finished for him.

"Boys," Jimmy said. "I'd like for you to meet Mr. Henry Milton." The boys all watched incredulously as the "rabbit" reached up and took off its head.

"It's a man in a rabbit costume?" Kid asked. He was still tired, and all this confusion was making his head hurt.

"Haven't you boys ever heard of the Easter Bunny?" Mr. Milton said.





"It was a giant rabbit?" Lou couldn't stop laughing. "This whole town was scared of a bunny!" This was great. "You big, bad, boys were chasing a bunny!"

"Lou," Kid said sternly. "Nobody knew it wasn't dangerous. Somebody had to find out."

"Sorry," she said. "You're right. So you got what, $25 apiece?"

"Yep," Noah said.

Lou nodded. "That's great you guys. $25 each for chasing a harmless bunny!" With that she began laughing hysterically again.

"I'm glad to see you're in a better mood today," Jimmy said dryly. The boys had gotten back to town earlier that morning, and after introducing Mr. Milton to the town, they had collected their reward and headed home for some much needed sleep. Rachel had let them sleep all afternoon, and now they were telling their story over dinner.

"So this Mr. Milton is the Easter Bunny?" Rachel asked. "Explain what that means, please."

"Well," Jimmy said. "It seems that because Easter is at the beginning of Spring, some creatures use the rabbit as a symbol for Easter. Mr. Milton just moved here, but where he lived before every year he would put on his bunny costume and pass out candy to all the children. He didn't mean to scare anyone, but when Bobby Stevens started screaming, he decided it would be better to leave for the time being. He was going to come to town today to explain everything."

"Yep," Teaspoon said, standing up from the table. "It's been a mighty strange day. I know you boys slept all day, so you're probably not very tired yet. But I would advise you to go to bed soon. Tomorrow is Easter, so we're all going to church. There's a picnic on the church lawn after the service too, so we'll all stay for that."

A little while later, the riders were all in bed. Easter Sunday would be the first day in a long time that they would all be home. Ike had ridden in just after dinner. Because it was a rare occurrence that they were all home, Rachel had planned a special celebration for that night.

"I can't believe you all got $25 to chase a giant rabbit while I was stuck here working," Cody complained. He had been grumbling about it ever since he found out about the reward.

"Shut up, Cody," Lou said from her bunk.

"Yeah, Cody. Shut up," Jimmy said. "Some of us want to sleep."

"I don't see why," Cody continued complaining. "You slept all day."

"Shut up!" came the chorus of tired voices. Cody wisely stopped talking before they decided to kill him. Soon, all was quiet. Except for Jimmy's snoring, which stopped once Buck threw a shoe at him.

The next morning, all the riders woke up early. Jimmy sat up, trying to wake himself up enough to climb out of bed. As he stretched, he felt something at his feet.

"What's this?" Kid asked from his bunk. Jimmy looked over to where Kid sat on his bunk holding a basket. He reached over and picked up the object at his feet. It too was a basket. The other boys were all holding similar baskets. Each one was filled with candy and cookies.

"Who did this?" Cody asked wonderingly. Not that he minded. He always welcomed food of any kind.

"I think I have a good idea," Buck said holding up a beautifully decorated colored egg. They all looked at Lou.

"Is this what you and Rachel were working on?"

She nodded. "Happy Easter everyone," she said with a smile.

"Okay, boys," Jimmy said. "Hard-boiled eggs for breakfast!" He tapped his egg against his bunk to crack the shell and began peeling it. The other boys quickly followed suit, none of them noticing the mischievous grin on Lou's face.

"What the heck?!" Kid and Cody cried out simultaneously. They each had raw egg running down their hands.

"Gottcha!" Lou said laughing. She jumped off her bunk and threw a towel to each of them. "I'm sorry you guys. I couldn't resist."

"Very funny Lou," Kid said. "I guess we deserved it though." He and Cody cleaned the egg off their hands as Lou pulled out a bowl full of decorated eggs.

"Here everyone. I promise none of these are raw." As they sat down at the table to eat, Ike pulled a piece of paper from his trunk.

>*I have a present for everyone too,* he signed. He handed the paper to Lou, who gasped when she saw it.

"Oh, Ike. It's beautiful," she said, standing up to hug him. She showed the drawing to the others.

It was a pencil drawing of the way station. Rachel's house and the bunkhouse were in the background, and all of the riders were there too. He even showed Kid mounted on Katy, waiting to take the pouch from Noah. Lou and Rachel were standing on the porch watching the exchange while all the other boys were in various places around the houses and barn.

"That's really good, Ike," Cody praised him. Kid hung the picture on the wall by the door while the others began to get ready for church.

Later that night the boys sat on the bunkhouse porch talking about the crazy weekend they had. None of them had ever really gotten to celebrate Easter before, so it was a new experience for them all. They had even helped Mr. Milton pass out his Easter candy.

Lou smiled in contentment as she leaned back against Kid. This had been the best Easter as long as she could remember. Sure things had gone wrong; broken eggs, dangerous bunnies, town riots. But everything had turned out perfectly in the end.

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