Speaker 1: This episode may contain content that is not suitable for
all audiences. Listener discretion is advised, especially for those under
the age of thirteen. Welcome to end to the night.
I'm narri your guide on to day's excursion down a
twisted path. Be careful not to get lost. Be it
dark or light, it's easy to lose your way. Are
you ready? Then let's begin the Abandons Part two.
Speaker 2: Miss Melville was true to her word, and two days
later her brother Rat and Grebby arrived at the front
door of the orphanage along with six spare horses. Missus
Staltzman met him outside. Excuse me, but can I help you?
Are you looking to adopt some of our children? She
eyed his horses curiously. Well, ma'am, not exactly adopt. I'm
the foreman at the Brighton Ranch, and I'd like to
hire some of the boys you have here. We're looking
for some new hands, and I suppose these boys need work.
There are adoption fees to be paid. I'm not looking
to adopt anyone. I'm hiring young men for an honest wage.
The yelling that came from the headmistress drew the attention
of all the children and a majority of the staff,
causing them to peer out the windows and watch the
drama unfold. You can't just walk in here and steal
children away, mister Grebby. Ma'am, I am not stealing anyone.
I want to hire any of the young men who
are willing to work like a man on all ranch,
bear and square. Surely you can't blame them for wanting
to better themselves.
Speaker 3: None of the children here want to work on your rank.
Speaker 2: At that moment, tom Ike, myself and seven other boys
burst through the front door and out to where the
horses stood waiting for us. We do, we shouted Bratt,
and Grebby couldn't disguise the crooked smile that crept across
his lips. Well, it's not possible, Missus, Stultzman said. No
one realized at the time the people who adopted from
the orphanage gave her private incentives for the exchange in
addition to the hefty adoption fee. It was news to
us that those added profits were part of any bargain
she made for children. We later learned that after she
sold children, many Stultzmen erased any trace of the children's
existence from the orphanage records. No one could locate a
child after that, and as far as the world was concerned,
they had simply vanished from the face of the earth.
No one came looking for abandons. Ratt and Grebby had
no intention of handing her a wad of cash, and
she knew it.
Speaker 3: You can't make them go be your slaves. What kind
of a place is brighton ranch, abuse and poor children,
Missus Staltsman mused haughtily, as if she only had our
best interests in mind, I can't recall you having any
qualms about who adopted children from here to work like
field hands, or worse for the girls. She started to
open her mouth to voice her offense at his accusations,
but he cut her off in the cool manner we
come to know him by. Instead of engaging her any further,
he calmly looked at us as we stood staring back
at him with desperation in our eyes. Young men, are
you sure you want to work long hours in the
heat and cold, and work as long and hard as.
Speaker 2: A grown man? We said, yes.
Speaker 1: You don't even have enough horses. I guess you can
only take six of them.
Speaker 2: Missus Stultzman observed, no, Missus Staltzman. I said, two of
us can ride on the same horse at the same time.
It won't be a problem. Before she knew what happened,
the ten of us had hugged our friends and sisters
and mounted the big Bays from the Brighton Ranch. We
rode behind Grat and Greby, uncertain of what lay ahead
of us. Still, we sat high in our saddles, knowing
we had a chance to change our lives. Not only ours,
but those are the people who meant the most to us.
Nothing could turn us back now. Gratt and Greby was
everything his younger sister. Melville wasn't a large, imposing man
with a booming voice and an outgoing personality. He was
a force to be reckoned with. If you made him proud,
he let you and everyone else know it. The problem
was that if you made him angry or disappointed him,
he did the same. One thing I could always say
about the man was that you knew where you stood
with him. Early on, when we started on the Brighton
he and I had a conversation. We both intended to
make sure things were clear between us, because Melva was
his sister. Bratton told me that I could find out
how my sister and the others were doing. Melva would
bring us regular word about them, but that I thanked
him mightily. He said that so far the Stultzman hadn't
put two and two together and figured out that Melva
and Gratton were related. Let's try and keep it that
way too. Bratton told me that woman is pretty angry
about you boys coming here, and it won't do any
of us any good if Melva is fired. She's my
sister and I love her, and it would make it
hard for you to keep track of how the young
ladies are if Melva were fired. My heart seized when
he laid out the stark realities of what would happen
if their connection ever leaked to the Stoltzman's or anyone
else at the orphanage. Missus Stultzman will be really mad
when she finds out that we boys are planning to
save up our money so we can rescue the girls.
Mister Krabby, it's terrible in that place. We have to
save them. I figured there was more to the story
than you boys just wanting to get out and make
some money. Are all of you in on it? At first,
it was just tom Ike and me and the other
boys saw it as a way of getting out of there.
I know that Tad Becker and Stint Williams both have
sisters in there. I've already talked to them. The boys
are so grateful that we got them out of that place,
and they're worried about their sisters and the other girls.
So they've agreed to do the same as we had
planned to. Be honest, I want to save everyone who's there,
but our first priorities have to be to save the
ones that we're closest to. There's a lot of men
who don't want to work as hard as you're going
to be working, and for you to do it so
you can save the people you care about raises my
estimation of you. It was that moment that I knew
I'd follow that man to hell.
Speaker 1: Thank you for joining me for this episode of the
Into the Night Anthology podcast. Written by Caroline Giamanco, narrated
by Nari, Theme music by Nico Rodriguez, all other original music,
sound design and editing by Ohmenhawk Studios. You can find
our links in the show notes. Into the Night is
on your favorite podcatcher, so make sure to like, subscribe,
and leave a five star review. To help other excursionists
to join us. I'll see you next time, and remember,
whether in the shadows or in the daylight, all twisted
paths lead you into the night. Into the Night Anthology
is a creative typo entertainment production