Speaker 1: Hi, excursionists, it's me Gnari. For the next few episodes,
Speaker 1: I've got something different for you, something a little dustier,
Speaker 1: a little sharper, and just as full of shadows as
Speaker 1: the paths we usually walk together. For the next four episodes,
Speaker 1: we're stepping into a Western written by Caroline, a tale
Speaker 1: about those who are left behind for one reason or another,
Speaker 1: becoming orphans, or as they used to be known, the Abandons.
Speaker 1: This will be a four episode series, and the first
Speaker 1: episode is coming up next, So saddle up, excursionists, meet
Speaker 1: me at the crossroads where the sun sets, and let's
Speaker 1: see where this trail takes us. This episode may contain
Speaker 1: content that is not suitable for all audiences. Listener discretion
Speaker 1: is advised, especially for those under the age of thirteen.
Speaker 1: Welcome to Endo the Night. I'm Narri, your guide on
Speaker 1: today's excursion down a twisted path. Be careful not to
Speaker 1: get lost. Be it dark or light, it's easy to
Speaker 1: lose your way. Are you ready, then let's begin the Abandons.
Speaker 1: Many of the children couldn't remember their families. Sometimes I
Speaker 1: thought they were the lucky ones. I remembered better than most,
Speaker 1: and my sister Rizzy remembered our folks nearly as well.
Speaker 1: Both of us cried ourselves to sleep more times than
Speaker 1: I could count, certainly more times than the people who
Speaker 1: ran the Orphanage thought proper.
Speaker 2: Missus. Stoltzman gave us some licks with a will of
Speaker 2: switch she was so fond of when she caught us,
Speaker 2: and she told us that we needed to remember just
Speaker 2: how lucky we were. Lucky or not. Rizzy and I
Speaker 2: survived when our parents and two neighboring pioneer families were
Speaker 2: killed in the Indian attacks that left us orphans, or
Speaker 2: as people here in the territories call us, the abandons.
Speaker 2: We may have felt alone against the world, but we
Speaker 2: weren't alone at the Orphanage. Whether it was cholera, bad luck,
Speaker 2: Indian attacks, or just the misfortune of being little ones
Speaker 2: left behind along the wagon trails, they brought us together,
Speaker 2: and the collection of us formed our own community. It's
Speaker 2: funny how even as children, we knew that we belonged together.
Speaker 2: We weren't family by blood, but we were all we had.
Speaker 2: The most unfortunate of us were the ones born as
Speaker 2: a result of the brothels that every western town had.
Speaker 2: None of us judged them, None of us were at
Speaker 2: the Orphanage through any of our own doing, and neither
Speaker 2: were they. The religious leaders and those who owned the place, however,
Speaker 2: never missed an opportunity to be noticeably harsher toward the
Speaker 2: brothel children. Life wasn't easy at the High Lake Home
Speaker 2: for orphaned Children, and most times the staff treated us
Speaker 2: like we should have taken the easy way out and
Speaker 2: died with our families. Don't think that thought didn't cross
Speaker 2: our minds Rizzie and I missed our parents something terrible,
Speaker 2: and we weren't sure why we were spared. We just
Speaker 2: happened to be playing down by the ice house when
Speaker 2: the raid took place. If we'd been with Paul gathering
Speaker 2: firewood like we were supposed to be, we wouldn't have
Speaker 2: made it out alive.
Speaker 1: The guilt we carried.
Speaker 2: Was fierce because of it. Unlike some of the other abandons,
Speaker 2: we at least knew Mom Paul loved us. Tenderness was
Speaker 2: in short supply, both in and out of the orphanage,
Speaker 2: and for the ones adopted out, most were treated little
Speaker 2: better than slaves. The faces of the men who searched
Speaker 2: the orphanage for additional farm hands were hard and uncompromising.
Speaker 2: Our future looked bleak. One night, long after it was
Speaker 2: safe for us to still be awake, Rizzie and I
Speaker 2: sat quietly with our friends. That day, we watched Hiram
Speaker 2: and Hilda bots handed over to a man who had
Speaker 2: no business near a child. He gave us all the
Speaker 2: feeling that Hilda was the prize he was after and
Speaker 2: that Hiram would be discarded soon after they rode away.
Speaker 2: We didn't believe the children would be safe, but we
Speaker 2: were powerless to save them.
Speaker 1: What can we do?
Speaker 2: We're nothing but a bunch of abandons without a penny
Speaker 2: between us. Tom Fouche, who was only a year older
Speaker 2: than ike Lewis and me, shook his head in disgust.
Speaker 2: What's going to stop that from happening to any of us?
Speaker 2: We need a plan. I looked at my friends and
Speaker 2: they sat waiting to hear what I had to say. Next.
Speaker 1: What do you have in mind?
Speaker 2: Oran? I had Tom's attention. Now, it's only an idea,
Speaker 2: but it beats sitting here just hoping the next monster
Speaker 2: doesn't choose us or sisters. Grizzy leaned in closer to me.
Speaker 2: Delia Bean, who was only nine and who was almost
Speaker 2: the one chosen instead of Hilda let out a whimper.
Speaker 2: Her fate was determined that day by one small stroke
Speaker 2: of luck. The man had simply said I prefer blondes.
Speaker 2: With that, Delia was spare for now. Even if some
Speaker 2: strange man doesn't choose us, or some couple doesn't pick
Speaker 2: us to be their workhorse, we girls don't have much
Speaker 2: of a future. We'll end up where some of us started,
Speaker 2: in a brothel, just doing what we can to survive.
Speaker 2: Shanny Nelson, who at fourteen was the oldest of the
Speaker 2: girls in our group, gave us a doleful look.
Speaker 1: Well, Shanny, that's.
Speaker 3: Why we need a plan. I'm listening, Uren, God knows
Speaker 3: we need some way out of this hell hole.
Speaker 2: Ruby Lipscomb reached out and squeezed Shanny's hand. Tom looked
Speaker 2: at Shanny with fierce determination. I'll do whatever it takes
Speaker 2: to keep that from happening. Now. We'd all known that
Speaker 2: Tom was sweet on Shannon, but this was as good
Speaker 2: as a public declaration, and that's how we all took it.
Speaker 2: Tom naturally Shy blushed so deeply we could have sworn
Speaker 2: we saw his face redden in the moonlight streaming through
Speaker 2: our curtainless window. Shanny ducked her head and leaned towards
Speaker 2: Ruby in a pleased embarrassment. Rizzi had already assured me
Speaker 2: that Shanny was equally fond of Tom. After an awkward moment,
Speaker 2: Mike Lewis said, what's your plan?
Speaker 3: Orin?
Speaker 2: I heard that Brighton Ranch is needing hands? Doubtful Size
Speaker 2: went around the darkened room. Now wait, I said, I
Speaker 2: know we're just kids, but Miss Melva said that Brighton
Speaker 2: is fearfully low on hands. Since most of the men
Speaker 2: around here are taken off to look for gold up
Speaker 2: north of Durango, they might be desperate enough to hire
Speaker 2: us on.
Speaker 1: How do we get there?
Speaker 2: They don't even know.
Speaker 1: Oh we exist.
Speaker 2: Ike's voice, barely above a whisper, came out of the darkness.
Speaker 2: Yes they do, Grizzie's quiet voice said how Ike's excitement
Speaker 2: made him speak a little louder than he'd intended. And
Speaker 2: for a tense moment we sat in silence, straining our
Speaker 2: ears to listen for footsteps. We expected the adults to
Speaker 2: be on their way to punish us for still being
Speaker 2: awake past bedtime. When no footsteps made their way to
Speaker 2: our sleeping bay, Rizzie spoke once more.
Speaker 3: Because Orn and I have been talking about this idea
Speaker 3: for a while. Miss Melva likes to visit with me,
Speaker 3: so I've been seeing if she could help. Turns out
Speaker 3: her big brother is one of the hands that stayed on,
Speaker 3: and that's how we found out they're hurting for help.
Speaker 3: He's not just a hand either, He's a foreman.
Speaker 2: I was pretty sure everyone but me was surprised by
Speaker 2: Rizzy's good work. A wisp of a girl at eleven,
Speaker 2: not many people paid her much mind. Same was true
Speaker 2: for Miss Melva. She looked sort of mousey and usually
Speaker 2: was just as quiet as well. That's why she and
Speaker 2: Rizzie talked so easy with one another. Miss Melva had
Speaker 2: a heart and wasn't like the rest of them who
Speaker 2: ran the orphanage. We could tell she hated working there
Speaker 2: as much as we hated living there. Miss Melva likes
Speaker 2: Rizzi and trusts us. That's why she was willing to
Speaker 2: find out what she could to help. Tom spoke once more, so,
Speaker 2: if we boys do get jobs, there are you saying
Speaker 2: that we just leave the girls behind. Ruby couldn't contain
Speaker 2: herself any longer.
Speaker 3: Yeah, is that what you're saying?
Speaker 1: Because I cut her off.
Speaker 2: No Ruby calmed down. This plan is to help all
Speaker 2: of us. Just hear me out. That satisfied her long
Speaker 2: enough for me to go on. I have in mind,
Speaker 2: and I think the rest of us boys will go
Speaker 2: along with it, is that once we've earned enough money,
Speaker 2: we'll come back and get all of you. I stared
Speaker 2: at Rizzy and saw Tom stare at Shanny. We aren't
Speaker 2: gonna leave anyone behind. This is all ticket out of here.
Speaker 2: What do you say? I'd barely finish speaking when Ike
Speaker 2: and Tom both said when can we start? I looked
Speaker 2: at my sister Rizzie. When does miss Melville think she
Speaker 2: can get word to her brother? She's just waiting for
Speaker 2: us to tell her to ask. She could tell him
Speaker 2: as soon as tomorrow night if I talk with her
Speaker 2: about it.
Speaker 3: In the morning.
Speaker 2: It was all we could do not to jump up
Speaker 2: and down and shriek with joy. The girls cried, and
Speaker 2: to be honest, us boys were grateful for the darkness
Speaker 2: so no one could see our eyes well up with
Speaker 2: tears too. We all needed this glimmer of hope. Okay,
Speaker 2: now let's get on to bed before anyone becomes suspicious.
Speaker 2: We don't need to be put on restrictions or anything
Speaker 2: for being up past curfew. You're right, but I'm not
Speaker 2: sure I'll sleep a wink, I whispered me neither, But
Speaker 2: we can't let them know we have any plans to escape.
Speaker 1: That's exactly what it was.
Speaker 2: We were planning two in escape. We were too young
Speaker 2: to consider that this was a huge risk, but we
Speaker 2: were also too desperate to care. Thank you for joining
Speaker 2: me for this episode of the Into the Night Anthology podcast.
Speaker 2: Written by Caroline Giamanco, narrated by Nari Quak, Theme music
Speaker 2: by Nico Rodriguez, all other original music, sound design and
Speaker 2: editing by Omenhawk Studios. You can find our links in
Speaker 2: the show notes. Into the Night is on your favorite podcatcher,
Speaker 2: so make sure to like, subscribe and leave a five
Speaker 2: star review to help other excursionists to join us. I'll
Speaker 2: see you next time, and remember, whether in the shadows
Speaker 2: or in the daylight, all twist to paths lead you
Speaker 2: into the night. Into the Night Anthology is a creative
Speaker 2: typo entertainment production.