TITLE: Where The River Flows 
AUTHOR: Kirsten T. 
E-MAIL: robin-t@clear.net.nz
STANDARD DISCLAIMER: The Young Riders don't belong to the author, but to
MGM/UA Television, Ed Spielman and Josh Kane. No copyright infringement
intended.

Where The River Flows 
By Kirsten T.

The river sparkled in the sun. The breeze gently blew through Curly's long
dark hair. The army had moved his tribe onto a reservation during the war.
It made Curly feel like a caged animal. He hated being told where he could
go and what he could do. He wanted his freedom back. There were days when he
wished that he and the river were one, so that he could flow out of there.

The sound of footsteps startled him. Quickly he hid in the bushes before he
was caught off of the reservation. His green eyes watching cautiously,
waiting to see who had intruded on his peace and quiet. He wasn't prepared
however for the vision that appeared before his eyes.

The woman that casually walked to the river's edge looked vaguely familiar.
Her brown eyes showed a joy that Curly could only remember as a distant
memory. She dreamily dangled a bare foot into the flowing water. Slowly she
looked around to make sure that she was alone before she removed her clothes
and stepped into the cooling waters. The delight at the freedom with which
she could move with the water was evident in her beaming face. Her long
reddish brown hair clung to her neck trailing down her back. Curly watched
her in amazement. Why did she look so familiar?

"Lou! Are you out here?" A voice that reminded Curly of a past adventure
called out. Kid knelt by the river's edge and leant forward to kiss his
wife. "You've been gone for quite a while. I was getting worried."

Louise gently stroked Kid's cheek. "I'm fine. I just wanted to take
advantage of this beautiful day. There won't be very many more of them."

Kid held up her shirt for her to put on as she rose from the water. He
looked around to make sure no one was around while Louise got dressed. "You
know Hon, you 've got to be careful around here. You know that the army
still have men patrolling these parts. Some of those men don't care what
side they're on, they shoot first and ask questions later."

Louise put her arms around her husband's waist. "You don't regret not
joining the army do you?" It was more of a statement than a question.

Kid kissed her forehead. "No. I don't regret my decision, especially after I
saw what they did to the Indian tribes. Thank God Buck decided to stay with
us."

Louise nodded. "It's a good thing he managed to get some of his tribe to us
in time."

Kid had the uncomfortable feeling that they were being watched "Come on, let
's go home. Buck is going to cook dinner and I'm kind of interested to see
what ends up on our plates."

Louise giggled. "Are you sure that was skunk he cooked last time, cause it
sure tasted a lot like chicken."

Curly watched the happy couple walk away hand in hand. He had recognised
Kid. It seemed like centuries ago when they had last met. But as far as he
could remember, the only Lou that was in Sweetwater was a boy. A twig
snapped behind him, alerting him to an unwanted presence. Quickly he made
his way downstream, sticking close to bushes so that he couldn't be seen.
The sound of gunshots told him he hadn' t been successful in remaining
unseen. Three men started chasing him, their guns firing at what seemed a
non-stop pace. The bullets flying passed his ear were really starting to
worry him. Just as a bullet hit his leg, Curly made a dive into the water.

Considering the three men following were ex-soldiers, they gave up the chase
rather easily. When Curly didn't come up for air, they took it that he was
dead. One less Indian for them to worry about.

Louise walked back down to the river near their homestead for the water for
the horses. As she knelt down by the flowing river, something caught the
corner of her eye. Rising slowly, she walked further down the river to see
what had caught her attention. Realising that it was a man lying face down
in the river, Louise quickly rolled him over and pulled him out of the
water. "Kid. Buck. I think you better come out here."

The two men came racing out of the bunkhouse followed by ten Indian
children. Kid looked at the man his wife was kneeling beside. "Is that
Curly?"

Louise took a closer look. "You mean that strange guy that kept saying that
it was a good day to die? Well, he just about got his wish today. It looks
like he' s been shot in the leg and he must have hit his head when he fell
in the water. You two had better get him inside before someone comes looking
for him."

Buck took the top half of the injured man. "Lou, can you go and get "Night
Sky.". She'll know what to do, besides I can't see the town doctor wanting
to tend to him, can you?"

Louise shook her head. "No. Damn shame that people still can't see past the
colour of a person's skin." The children followed her into the house, while
Buck and Kid carried Curly into the bunkhouse.

That night Jimmy and Cody joined the extended family for dinner. Curly had
woken briefly, alarmed at the strange surroundings. It seemed to calm him
down when he sae Kid. He had fallen back asleep shortly before Jimmy and
Cody had arrived.

Jimmy shook his head. "Does this sort of thing happen alot around here?"

Buck nodded "Since the war, most of the Indian tribes have been moved onto
reservations. If they moved off of the reservation they are in danger of
getting shot. Kid and Lou took some of the families in and they have a bit
more freedom but if anyone leaves the property they are in the same danger.
The same goes for me. It's not too bad if Kid or Lou are with us, but at the
end of the day, we're basically shot on sight."

Cody frowned at his friend. "I'm sorry. I didn't realise it had gotten so
bad."

Buck nodded "Well, there are groups of do gooders going around as well,
trying to civilise us savages. They try and change our clothes, our beliefs,
it as though they are trying to wipe out the entire Indian nation."

Jimmy looked up from his meal. "Am I wrong in guessing that they're not
going to stop any time soon?"

Buck shook his head. "I'm afraid not. I'm guessing that whoever shot Curly
probably think that he's dead, otherwise we would have whoever it is beating
down the door."

Cody couldn't believe that things had gotten so bad. "Is it still safe for
Lou and the other women here?"

Kid chuckled from behind them, causing them all to jump. They hadn't heard
him walk in. "That is the most stubborn group of women, I have ever come
across. You know what Lou is like. Nobody has ever been able to tell my wife
what is best for her. Lou hates it when she thinks that I am being over
protective." The three men chuckled smiling. They had seen on too many
occasions, the extent of Lou's temper when they had tried to protect her.

The sound of the door opening caught their attention. Outside stood Curly,
looking a bit confused. "Didn't Lou used to be a boy?"

The foursome burst out laughing. After helping Curly to a seat, they caught
him up on what had happened since they had last met. The fact that Lou was a
girl and that she had married Kid suddenly didn't seem all that strange to
Curly when he stopped and thought about it. He seemed to remember, they were
always looking at each other. After a while Curly noticed that Kid seemed
rather distracted. "Something wrong, Kid?"

Kid looked at his friend, his eyes worried. "It's probably nothing." His
eyes kept looking over to the door though.

Jimmy had also caught Kid's nervousness. "Lou's been gone quite a while
hasn't she?"

Kid nodded. "You know, I might just go and make sure that she isn't with the
children. She's been spending a lot of time with them lately." Curly rose to
go with him. "No, you stay here Curly. You're supposed to keep off of that
leg."

Kid made his way through the dark to the bunkhouse. As he got to the door he
noticed the marks in the dirt. It was as if something or someone had been
dragged to the bunkhouse. Hearing the footsteps behind him, Kid turned to
find his four friends standing behind him, their faces full of questions.
Instinctively they all moved for their guns. Jimmy handed his second gun
over to the unarmed Curly. Kid motioned for Buck and Cody to take the sides
and Jimmy to take the rear. Curly covered them from the house. If anything
went wrong, he would be their backup. He couldn't move very fast on his
injured leg anyway.

Kid kicked in the door only to find Louise being held at gunpoint. There
were three men. One of them was holding a gun to Louise's forehead. The
other two had their guns trained on the children. They knew that no one
would risk the children being hurt. The man who had his gun on Louise
smirked at Kid. "You couldn't tell me where I could find the body of the
Indian we shot this morning could you? Your wife hasn' t been very helpful
so far. "He ran his hand down Louise's cheek "Damn shame you turned up. Your
wife and I were just getting aquatinted, weren't we?'

Kid could see how much Lou was hating this. Any minute now she would loose
her temper. Suddenly Louise grabbed the arm holding the gun to her forehead,
pushing it out of her face, while bringing her other arm back into the
stomach of her kidnapp0er. Turning towards him she thrust her knee into his
groin causing him to drop his gun. As Jimmy burst in the back door, Cody and
Buck crashed through the windows, knocking the other two men down.
Unfortunately, Louise's anger had only just begun to let loose. Drawing her
fist back, she put all of her weight behind her punch, knocking the man
flying backwards. When she started kicking him, Kid reached foreward and
grabbed his wife round her waist pulling her back to him. As Kid was trying
to calm her down, the man quivering on the floor started to reach for his
gun. The sound of a gun being triggered stopped him. Looking up, he found
Curly standing above him, gun pointed at his head. Wisely he moved his hand
back away from his fallen gun. Cody and Buck tied the men up, while Jimmy
went to get Teaspoon and the doctor.

Kid paced back and forth in the kitchen. The doctor had been upstairs with
Louise for the past hour. Kid was staring to get worried. Everytime Jimmy
tried to calm him down, Kid just snapped at him. If they weren't all as
worried as Kid, then they would have all found it amusing.

When the doctor finally came downstairs, the five men jumped up to find out
how Louise was. The doctor smiled at Kid. "Louise is going to be fine. She
is a little shaken up and she needs plenty of rest. By the way,
congratulations Son." He laughed at Kid's puzzled face. "You're going to be
a father." His laugh deepened as he saw the jaws drop on the five men before
him. "I'd better get going. I promised Teaspoon I'd take a look at that
prisoner you're wife dealt to." Patting Kid on the shoulder, he made his way
out the door.

Curly had stayed with Kid and Louise until his leg had healed. Although
Louise had asked him to stay longer, Curly felt the need to venture out on
his own. She had understood his need for freedom, but Kid had made him
promise to return when it was time for the birth of their first child. After
all, it was the same promise he had secured form Jimmy and Cody. Curly had
been touched that Kid had considered him such a close friend that he wanted
him to share in the birth of their child.

When the fall came Curly was there with his friends when Louise gave birth
to a beautiful, healthy baby boy. It had been a long time since Curly had
truly felt as though he was free. Yet here he was, welcome into a family
without question and still he was free to go safe with the knowledge that he
had somewhere to come back to. As the sun set on the homestead, turning the
sky a rainbow of merging colours, the river flowed quietly by. Curly like
the river, would go by, stopping briefly, but only to continue on his
journey.

The End