Billy Travis Larabee: Mary’s son from her 1st marriage. He is 12-years-old in this story (this is where the timeline doesn’t fit
Jacob Vin Larabee: Chris and Mary’s 9-year-old son. He and Jesse are best friends Riley Elizabeth Larabee: Chris and Mary’s 7-year-old daughter
Alyssa Standish: Ezra’s Wife
Jared Thomas Standish: Ezra and Alyssa’s 7-year-old son (twin of Connor)
Connor James Standish: Ezra and Alyssa’s 7-year-old son (twin of Jared)
Inez Wilmington: Buck’s Wife
Adam Michael Wilmington: Buck and Inez’s 8-year-old son
Kiley Ann Wilmington: Buck and Inez’s 6-year-old daughter
Maria Sanchez: Josiah’s Wife
Abigail Nicole Sanchez: Josiah and Maria’s 6-year-old daughter
Rain Jackson: Nathan’s Wife
Jacey Skye Jackson: Nathan and Rain’s 7-year-old daughter
Joshua Daniel Jackson: Nathan and Rain’s 6-year-old son
Casey Dunne: JD’s Wife
Haley Michelle Dunne: JD and Casey’s 5-year-old daughter
Nettie Wells: Casey’s aunt and Vin’s ‘foster mom’
This story will mostly revolve around the children and how the seven deal with their antics and adventures. If this is not something you would enjoy, please do not continue to read.
“BILLY, JACOB, RILEY” Mary yelled in a singsong voice. “Time to get up. Breakfast is almost ready.” She heard her children scurrying around upstairs trying to get cleaned up and dressed. They sounded like a herd of buffalo.
“OW…Jake yur in my way! MOVE!” She heard Billy yell, and then heard a ‘thud’ as Jake hit the floor. “HEY!” Jake responded. The sounds of a scuffle drifted down the stairs. Mary gave Chris the ‘their YOUR children, YOU take care of them’ look. Chris sighed and made his way up the stairs. He saw Billy and Jake wrestling around on the floor, with Riley cheering them on. Chris looked skyward //Why me? //
“Boys that’s enough” he said in a stern, quiet voice. He lifted Jake
off Billy, and then pulled Billy to his feet. Jake kicked out at Billy,
which earned him a swat on the backside.
“I said that’s enough.” He set Jake on his feet. “ Now, Billy, what
happened?”
“He started it! I was trying to get dressed and Jake kept getting in my…” He said angrily.
“Pa, he pushed me…and I wasn’t in his way. He started it!” Jake cut in.
“Did not!”
“Did too!”
The boys started to argue. Chris was quickly losing his patience. “Boys!”
They both stopped and looked at their father. He was staring hard at them. They knew that look and averted their eyes.
“I don’t care who started it. Both of you know better. If I catch you two fighting again you’ll be a mite uncomfortable when you sit down. Do you understand me?”
“Yes, Sir.” Billy said quickly. Jake just stared back defiantly.
“Jacob, I didn’t hear you.” He said in a voice that demanded an answer.
Jake dropped his eyes.
“Yes, Sir.”
“Good. Now finish getting dressed and get down to breakfast.”
“Pa I’m going over to Uncle Chris’s to get Jake then were going swimming!” Jesse said quickly as she headed for the door. She felt someone grab her arm. //Damn//
“You finish yur chores?” Vin asked in his quiet gravelly voice.
“Uhhh…well…not exactly.”
“Well then, you best git to ‘em”
“But pa, I can finish them when I get back.” She whined.
“You finish yur chores then you cain go t’the pond.”
“But…”
“Don’t argue with me. Ya mind what I say now.”
Jessie sighed. She knew she wouldn’t win. “ Yes, pa” she said and headed outside.
“What took ya so long?” Jake asked.
“I had t’ finish my chores. Com’on lets get outta here ‘fore Riley ask t’ go with us. I already had to hide from Logan. Ya get ‘em?”
“Yeah, but Billy almost caught me. If he finds out I took ‘em he’ll get mad and he’ll definitely tell pa. Then I’d be in for it.” He showed Jessie the firecrackers. “Lets go.”
“Where’d ya tell yur pa we were goin’?” Jake asked once they got to the pond. “I told mine we were going swimmin’”
“Me too…” Jessie grinned. “ I mean we are going to the pond, jus not to swim.”
“Yeah, but if we get caught they’ll still say we lied ‘bout what we were doin’”
“So, we don’t get caught then. Lets get started.”
Jesse carefully tied one of the firecrackers to a rock. “Give me my slingshot.” She told Jake.
“Jesse, I don’t know about this. If the firecracker goes off ‘fore you shoot it y’ll get hurt” Jake answered worriedly.
“Don’t be a sissy. Nothin’ll happen. Give it t’me”. She grabbed the slingshot out of Jake’s hand and placed the rock gently in the sling. “Now, when I say to, light the firecracker, then I’ll shoot it over the water. Ready…Now!”
Jake lit the fuse. The firecracker sailed in the air and exploded just
before it hit the water. “That was neat, lets do it again."
Jesse shot the next one. It sailed over the pond and landed in the
brush. Dirt flew everywhere as it exploded. “Oh. Shit. Jesse, fire!”
Jake yelled. They both jumped in the pond and swam for the other side.
The fire spread quickly through the dry brush. They reached the bank and
began to splash water onto the flames.
Josiah and Nathan were coming back from the Seminole village when they
saw the smoke.
“Looks like a brush fire” Josiah said. “We better check it out.”
He and Nathan rode quickly pulling their horses up short when they saw the two figures trying to put out the fire. “C’mon” Nathan said.
Jesse and Jake had most of the fire out when they heard the horses. //Uh.Oh. Uncle Nathan and Uncle Josiah…damn. // Jesse thought.
They saw Nathan and Josiah jump off their horses and begin to battle the rest of the blaze. Luck was on their side and they managed to get the fire out quickly. Once all the hot spots were doused with water Nathan turned to the children. Worry clouded his eyes as he saw exactly who those children were. “ Jake! Jesse! Are you two all right?” He began to check them over for injuries. Satisfied they were unharmed his worry quickly turned to anger.
“What in heaven’s name were you two doing? Did you start that fire?”
“Uhhh… now Uncle Nathan calm down. We were just playing when…” Jake started to answer.
“Just playing! Tell me how just playing involves starting a fire!?”
Josiah laid his hand on Nathan’s shoulder. “Nathan, let’s get them dry, then we can find out what happened.” He turned to the kids. “Where are you things?”
“On the other side of the pond. We swam across it when the fire started.” Jake answered.
Nathan and Josiah mounted up, pulling one child up on the horse with them. When they got to the other side Jesse and Jake jumped off and tried to hide the evidence proving they were the ones that started the fire.
Josiah saw what they were trying to do. “Hold up you two.” The children skidded to a stop.
He dismounted. He saw the slingshot and firecrackers on the ground. It didn’t take long for him to figure out what they were up to. //Please don’t tell me they were doing what I think they were doing// He leveled his gaze at Jesse. “That your slingshot?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Whose firecrackers?”
“Billy’s.”
“I don’t see Billy.” Josiah turned to Jake. “How you come to get ‘em?”
“I…I…” Jake stuttered. He knew his Uncle Josiah would not look kindly on his answer. “Well I sorta borrowed them.”
“You borrowed them? Son, when you borrow something you intend to give it back in the same shape you borrowed it. You can’t give back exploded firecrackers. So that must mean you stole them from Billy. Correct?”
Jake winced. “Steal is such a harsh word Uncle Josiah…”
“Jacob, enough!” Josiah gave a long suffering sigh. “Just answer the question.”
Jake gulped. It was never good when Uncle Josiah raised his voice. “Ummm…yes, Sir.”
“All right, enough of this. Josiah, you can discuss the stealing issue with Jake later. Right now, I want to know exactly what you two were doing.” Nathan was quickly losing his temper. He turned to Jesse, hands on his hips. “Well?”
Jesse looked up at her Uncle Nathan. She could tell he was losing his patience fast and decided it’d be best to come straight out and say what happened. “Well, Uncle Nathan, we were jus playin’ around, shootin’ the firecrackers in the air and watching them explode ‘fore they hit the water. I sorta overshot the last one though, and it landed in the brush and started the fire.” Jesse cringed waiting for the explosion she knew was coming.
“WHAT? ARE YOU CRAZY!? You could of blown your fool head off…both of you!” Nathan bellowed. “And didn’t your pa’s tell you two you were not to touch firecrackers after the fiasco at the 4th of July picnic?”
“Hey, that was an accident Uncle Nathan. We didn’t mean to blow up the pie stand!” Jesse said indignantly.
“Nevertheless, your pa told you not to touch any type of fireworks again,
didn’t he?”
Jesse nodded.
“Josiah, are Chris and Vin supposed to be in town today?”
“No, they said something about fixing up some of the out buildings on the ranch.”
“All right, lets get you two home then.”
“You gonna tell them what happened, Uncle Nathan?” Jake asked.
“No…”
Jake let out a sigh of relief.
“You are.” Nathan finished.
“Knew it was too good to be true” Jake mumbled under his breath.
Vin was up on the barn roof when he saw Nathan and Josiah ride in. “Chris, rider comin’”
Chris looked up from his perch on the lean to. “Looks like they’ve got company, too.” He said and started to climb down. They just hit the ground when Josiah and Nathan pulled into the yard.
Chris heard Vin sigh. “Don’t look like good news, cowboy. Jake and Jesse don’t look too happy.”
Vin helped Jesse down off Nathan’s horse. “Thought you were swimmin?”
“We were. Uncle Nathan and Uncle Josiah jus gave us a ride home.”
“Mighty nice of ‘em to go outta of their way to give you two a ride home.”
“That’s what I said. Well, thanks Uncle Nathan, Uncle Josiah. C’mon Jake, lets go find something to eat, I’m starved” Jesse said as she pulled Jake toward the house.
“Just a minute you two.” Josiah said. “I believe you both have something you wanted to tell your pa’s.” Jesse and Jake stopped cold in their tracks.
“Oh yeah” Jake thought quickly. “The water was great. You guys should take a break and cool off.”
“Yeah.” Jesse jumped in. “You look awful hot. Nice swim is just what you need.” They headed for the house again.
Vin looked over at Chris. They both knew what their children were trying
to do. It didn’t work.
“Jacob and Jessica! Front and center.” Chris said in a voice
that meant business.
The kids stopped in midstep and slowly turned around. //Uh.Oh. Full names// Jake thought. They swallowed hard and made their way over to Chris.
“Now. From the look on Nathan’s face, I can tell you two were up to something. And whatever it was is probably going to made us real angry. If you were smart, you’d start talking before we get any angrier. So, let’s have it.”
Jesse looked to Jake. Jake looked to Jesse. “You tell them.” He said.
“No way. You tell ‘em. You’re older.” Jesse replied.
Vin, who had been standing quietly through the whole exchange, lost
his patience.
“Jessica Lynn Tanner. You best start talkin’ less’n you want t’ be
in more trouble than I’m sure you’re gonna be.” He said quietly but firmly.
Jesse heard the warning in that voice. She took a deep breath.
“Well, ya see, we was playin’ down by the pond. And this fire started. So’s we went to put it out…”
“A fire? How did this fire come t’ start?” Vin cut in.
“Well, that’s a long story, pa. No need to go into it. We went over t’ put…”
“Jessica, I asked you a question. You best answer it. NOW.”
Nathan and Josiah stood off to the side watching the exchange. They couldn’t help but smile at the way Jesse and Jake were trying to worm out of trouble. Josiah could tell from the look in Chris’s face that they were only digging themselves deeper. He decided to give them a little help.
“Here Jesse you dropped this at the pond.” Josiah said as he handed the slingshot to her. “And Jake, you left these.” He gave the rest of the firecrackers to him. It provoked the reaction he was looking for.
“Jacob Vin Larabee, where did you get those firecrackers?” Chris said angrily.
Jake stopped breathing. He glanced up at his pa and knew he was in BIG trouble. Panic set in and the words tumbled out.
“JessewasshootingthefirecrackersintheairafterIlitthemandonelandedinthebrushandstartedafire…”
“What?! You was shooting lit firecrackers!” Vin turned on his daughter. “Are you crazy?! You coulda been killed. Of all the stupid harebrained stunts you two pulled … what were you thinking?”
“Obviously nothing Vin.” Chris cut in sarcastically. “Where’d you get the firecrackers?” he asked Jake.
“From Billy.”
“Billy gave you those firecrackers?” Chris asked unbelievingly.
“Well he didn’t exactly give them to me. I sorta took ‘em…”
“I’ve heard enough. Josiah, Nathan, thanks for bringing them home. We’ll handle it from here.”
“No problem Chris. Glad to be of assistance.” Josiah replied. They got
up in their saddles and headed back to town.
“Man, I wouldn’t want to be in their shoes for nothin’” Nathan said.
“Me neither Brother Nathan, me neither.”
“Well, were gonna go play now…” Jesse started to say. She was cut off by her father’s angry voice.
“Th’ only place you’re goin’ is back to the house and up t’ yur room. I’ll be home as soon as I finish up here. Then you and me’s gonna have a little talk.” Jesse knew what that ‘talk’ was going to consist of.
“Go.” Vin directed her toward home with a sharp swat to her rear.
“As for you, “ Chris directed towards Jake. “You get your tail in the house. I’ll deal with you after your Uncle Vin leaves. And you might want to sit down since your not going to be able to do it comfortably after I’m done with you.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Chris shook his head. “Can you believe them? I tell ya one of these days they’re gonna kill themselves.”
“Not if I can help it.” Vin replied under his breath. He smiled and gave a small laugh. “Ya gotta give them some credit though.”
“What for?”
“The way they tried to get out of trouble. If we weren’t so quick they’d have slipped right into th’ house ‘fore we knew what hit us. Those two are sure a handful.”
“Well, come on, let’s finish up.” Chris said. “We let ‘em sweat it out too long they’ll be impossible to handle.”
“Cowboy, they’s already impossible to handle.”
THE END
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