The Dude Ranch...a Maggie Story-chapter 1 (M/f)
By SamPast and Huggedlots
Copyright © 1999, All rights reserved

Lisa and Charlie looked at all the luggage piled in the hallway of their apartment, and couldn't believe how much they needed for just a two week vacation.

Lisa sighed, and said, "Hurry up, girls, we want to get going. We need to help Daddy load the car."

"Coming Mom," 8 year old twins, Jennifer and Robin called. "We just have a few more things to get together."

Lisa waited impatiently. Finally she shouted, "I am going to count to three, young ladies, and if you two aren't at this door, and I have to come get you, you are BOTH in big trouble."

The twins looked at each other, and knew immediately that their mom meant a spanking, and neither wanted to begin their trip that way. They grabbed the additional toys they just knew they couldn't live without and hurried to meet their mom at the door.

"Okay, girls, let's go!" Lisa said, pushing the button for the elevator. Soon they were down, putting their things in the station wagon.

Half an hour later, the car was packed, all had used the bathroom, and they were off! They had been told that it would be a long drive, but after an hour and a half, they started to argue and bicker and were hot and tired. Charlie had had enough, and pulled into a gas station to get everyone drinks.

After giving the girls each a large orange juice, he pulled them aside, hugged them both and told them, "Look girls, I know how hot it is, and you are tired, and it is a long drive. But, I do not want to have to start out this vacation giving you both spankings. Will you be good for Daddy?"

The girls both felt bad, and hung their heads. "We're sorry, Daddy", they both said. He patted them both on their bottoms and kissed the tops of their heads.

"Okay, now both of you, go with Mommy to the bathroom. I don't want to stop again for another hour or so."

Back in the car, the girls got sleepy, and fell asleep, dreaming of the fun their Daddy had promised them. They were headed to a family camp in the mountains, and they were going to sleep in a cabin, and eat in a dining hall, and there were going to be horses, and a petting farm, and a big pool, and a lake with ducks, and sooo many other things, they couldn't even remember them all. They knew there would be other kids, and they always had each other.



Charlie took advantage of the kids being asleep and pushed on to their destination at Circle K Ranch. He checked in at the gate before the girls realized that they were there.

"Oh look Robin!" yelled Jennifer, "I see ducks, lots of them. Mommy, can we go feed them? Can we? Can we?"

"Well, not just yet, sweetie. We have to unpack first," Lisa replied.

As they unloaded the car, the girls noticed that there was a girl in the cabin next to them. She looked to be their age, but they weren't sure. When they were done, they asked their mom for permission to go knock on the door.

"Sure girls, but remember, you do not have permission to go ANYWHERE else without coming and telling me. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Mommy," they yelled back as they flew out the door.

They ran next door and since it was just the screen they yelled in and said, "Hi, anybody here?"

A girl came over and they all introduced themselves. Their new friend's name was Maggie and she was 9, just a year older than the twins. They sat and talked a bit, and the twins told them that their real mom had died, but their dad was remarried. Maggie told them that her she had no father, and lived with her mother and grandmother. She and her mom were staying at the ranch for the whole summer, while her grandmother had the house redone back home. Maggie told them about all the neat stuff there was to do, and offered to show them around. She had been there before, and her mother had horses she kept at the stables.

Robin said, "We have to go ask for permission to go first."

"You what?" Maggie said. "I never ask, just leave a note or something."

Jenn said, "You don't have to ask?!" The twins couldn't believe it.

"Yeah, no big deal or nothin', let's just go. It's very safe around here, and my mom is busy and just lets me wander. I know I have to be home for dinner. No big deal. COME ON, will ya?" Maggie said.

The twins decided to compromise, and as they ran out the door, they yelled, "Going to the barn!" at the open door to their cabin. Unfortunately for them, Charlie and Lisa were in the back of the cabin, and did not hear the girls or their information.

About a half hour later, Charlie said, "You know it is very quiet. I am going next door to check on the twins, and meet the adults over there."

He knocked, and called, and got no answer. Frowning, he walked back to the cabin and told Lisa that no one was home.

"Well, that's strange. I know I told the girls NOT to go anywhere without telling us," Lisa said, frowning, as well.

Since the ranch was huge with lots of choices of directions, they decided to stay put and wait for the girls to come back on their own. The longer they waited, though, the angrier Charlie became, and the more worried they both got.

Meanwhile, Robin and Jennifer were having a great time, looking at all the horses, and the animals in the petting farm area. They totally forgot the time as it got later and later.

"Tomorrow, you can sign up and go on a trail ride with me," Maggie informed them.

"Wow, that's great!" the girls said.

Just then, the head wrangler came by and told them, "Git now, little ones, it's almost time for dinner. Don't want to be late, do ya?"

"Nope," they all replied and happily headed back to the cabins.

Robin looked over uneasily at her sister. "Umm, Jenn, I think we might be in trouble."

"Why?" Maggie asked, "What kind of trouble could you be in?"

The twins exchanged glances, knowing exactly the kind they were probably in, but said nothing to Maggie. As they got closer, they saw Charlie pacing in front of their cabin, and knew this was NOT a good sign.

All three stopped in the road to greet him, and Charlie hugged the girls hard, and asked where they had been. They introduced their new friend, and told Charlie all about the horses. Charlie told Maggie how nice it was to meet her, and that they would see her later, and shepherded the girls inside.

Carefully closing the cabin door, he stood in front of the twins with his hands on his hips and asked sternly, "Girls, what did your mother tell you today about wandering off?"

Jennifer looked up at her dad, and innocently said, "But Daddy, we DID tell you."

"Don't even try that, young lady," he said.

"But we did, Daddy, honest! We came to the door, and shouted in where we were going. Didn't you hear us?"

Charlie looked them over, and decided that the excuse was a bit too flimsy. "Did we answer you, young lady?" he asked.

"Well," Jenn shuffled her feet, "no Daddy, you didn't."

"Robin," Charlie asked, giving her a very stern look, "did YOU think that yelling in the door without waiting for an answer and permission to go was what your mother had in mind when she told you what to do today?"

Robin continued to stare at her feet. Charlie hooked his thumb under her chin, and pulled it up. He said, "Answer me, young lady!"

"No sir," Robin answered in a little voice.

Charlie said, "I think two spankings are in order here."

"Please, Daddy, Nooooooo! We are on vacation, and it is our very first day! Pleeeeeeeeeeease?"

Charlie looked at their small pleading faces, and it almost broke his heart. But he knew that his girls needed consistency, as well as a balance of compassion. Jenn had her fingers crossed behind her back, hoping against hope that just once, Daddy would relent.

Charlie looked over at Lisa who gave him a "it's your call" look. Charlie looked down again, and said in a stern voice, "Okay, girls, this is your one and ONLY chance to mess up on the family rules. You will both go right to bed after dinner, though. No evening activities for either one of you."

"Yes, sir," they both replied, greatly relieved to know they could actually sit to eat dinner.

"Now, go wash up and let's go to the dining hall," Charlie said.

As the twins headed out to change, Charlie gave each a hard swat on their bottom. "Ouch!" they both yelled. Charlie just chuckled at them both as they scampered away.

Just as they finished washing, a gong went off, and as they came out of the cabin, Maggie emerged from hers with her mom. The girls quickly made the introductions, and Charlie invited Heather and Maggie to eat with them, if they had no other plans. Heather quickly accepted, as she really didn't have many friends up there, and had already heard quite a lot about the Clemente family.

After a sumptuous dinner of beef stew and home made biscuits, they headed back to the cabin.

"Come on," Maggie said, "it's movie night at the social hall."

"I'm sorry Maggie, we can't go." Robin said.

"Why not?" Maggie asked.

"Well," Robin said, looking at the ground, "we're grounded tonight."

"But its okay," Jennifer said quickly, "it could have been a lot worse."

The twins exchanged looks and smiles.

"Grounded? Why ever for?" Maggie asked surprised.

"Because we went to the stables without permission, and our folks were worried, and soooo, no movies tonight," Robin explained.

Maggie really wanted her new friends to come, and started whining to her mom. Heather was embarrassed that Maggie got so quickly out of control, and was on the verge of a temper tantrum.

Heather turned to Charlie, and said, "Well, it was such a little thing, can't you relent and let the girls come?"

Charlie stared at her, surprised that she was not only doing nothing to discourage the tantrum he saw coming, but was trying to placate Maggie. He knew that there was going to be problems for this very young mom. She seemed utterly unable to cope.

"I am sorry, Heather, the girls knew they broke a family rule, and they are relieved not to be sitting on very red bottoms right now," Charlie replied.

Maggie looked at the twins, and at her mom, and saw the closeness of the Clemente family, and felt left out. She started to whine even more, and her mom quickly took her hand, and told her to be a good girl, so they could go get some ice cream at the little country store before the movie.

Charlie said goodnight to Heather and Maggie, and told the twins to put on their pajamas. They both yelled goodnight to Maggie and Heather, and reluctantly headed inside.

Alone in their bedroom, Robin looked at Jenn and said, "Wow, if we EVER acted like that, Daddy would just kill us."

"I know," Jenn said, giggling. "I wonder if Heather has EVER been spanked."

Robin said, "I don't know, but I do know that she can get us in a lot of trouble if we aren't careful, and I for one, do not want to spend this vacation over Daddy's knee, got it Jenn?"

"What are you looking at me for? I certainly don't want to be spanked. I'm not going to do anything to make Daddy mad," Jenn said defensively.

Robin thought about it for a moment, but then only said inside her head, "Yeah, right, not on purpose anyway," Aloud, she said, "Goodnight, Jenn."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning, after breakfast, Charlie, Lisa and the girls took a tour around the ranch. It was a big place and they wanted to get a feel of it. They decided on a place to meet, if they ever got separated from each other. It was a large tree with a bench underneath.

They walked back over to the stables. The girls told Charlie that Maggie had mentioned signing up for a ride. While they were looking around for one of the ranch hands, they spotted Heather and Maggie.

"Good morning, how are you this morning?" Heather asked.

"We're great, thanks, and you? We didn't see you at breakfast," Lisa said.

"Oh, Maggie and I were at the early breakfast, at 7. We're always up real early. I was just brushing down one of my horses. Are you going riding, today?" she asked.

Charlie answered, "Well, we might need to take lessons first. None of us have ever been riding before."

"Oh, well, there are adult lessons being given around the other side," Heather looked at her watch, "starting around now. Hey, why don't you and Lisa go take some, and the girls can hang with Maggie and me. I'll take them on their first ride."

Lisa said, "Oh, I don't know." She looked at Charlie.

Charlie agreed, "Yea, I don't think that's such a good idea. I think Lisa and I would like to be with them for their first ride."

Heather was surprised. "Okay, well, if you two still want to take those lessons, the girls can watch Maggie and I. Then we can meet up again later."

The girls had been quiet until now. But upon hearing they could hang out with their new friend, they joined the conversation.

"Oh, please, Daddy, please, Mommy, can we?" Jenn asked.

"Yeah, that would be so great!" Robin chimed in.

Charlie and Lisa exchanged looks.

"Well, Charlie, it might be good that we know something about riding before we take the girls!" Lisa said.

Charlie said, "Okay, we'll go take our lessons. Lisa, why don't you go sign us up? I'm going to give the girls a few rules before we leave."

As Lisa walked away, Charlie said, "Robin, Jennifer, I expect you to behave yourselves, and do everything that Heather says. Understood?"

The girls nodded. They would have done anything at that point.

"And..." Charlie started.

"Dadd-ee!" Jennifer said.

"We'll be good, Daddy!" Robin whined.

"Robin, no whining. I mean it, you two had better behave yourselves," Charlie repeated. He kissed both girls and spoke to Heather about a meeting spot. They decided to meet in the dining hall at noon. That would give them plenty of time to take their lessons, and shower before lunch.

As soon as Charlie walked away, Robin, Jennifer, and Maggie jumped up and down, holding hands, in a circle.

"This is going to be so much fun," Maggie said. "Come on, I saved some bread from breakfast, let's go feed the ducks!"

Maggie started to run off. The twins hesitated looking at Heather.

"It's okay, go ahead, have fun! I'll be awhile, brushing my horses, then I'll find you in a little while," she said.

Jennifer shrugged and ran to catch up to Maggie. Robin, still a little unsure, waited.

Heather noticed her. "What's the matter, Robin?"

"Um, I don't think my parents would like it if we went off by ourselves," she said, feeling stupid.

"Oh, no, don't worry about it. Maggie knows this place like the back of her hand, you won't get lost. I'll meet you there in a little while. Okay?" Heather said.

"Okay," Robin said.

"Come on, Robin," Jennifer called.

The girls fed the ducks and played by the lake.

"Ooh, what are those?" Jennifer asked pointing.

Maggie looked. "Oh, those are paddle boats. They're really fun!"

"Can we go on them?" Jenn asked.

"Yeah, but we'll have to wait for my mom. I think it's stupid, but they don't let kids take them out by themselves. My mom said I could, but the ranch said no," Maggie said.

After a little while, Heather joined them at the lake.

"Mom, Jennifer and Robin want to take out the paddle boats, and we need you, let's go!" Maggie demanded.

The twins couldn't believe how Maggie had told her mother what to do. She won't do it, though, the girls thought. Then, they couldn't believe it. Heather was walking towards the paddle boats.

"Can you believe that, Robin?" Jenn asked.

"If we spoke like that to Mommy, we'd have our mouths washed out with soap," Robin said.

"Come on, Robin, let's go!" Jenn called and ran off.

Robin followed. Then she grabbed Jennifer and said, "Do you think we should?"

"Yeah, why not?" Jenn asked. "Heather is coming with us. And Daddy said to do whatever Heather said. Come on, stop being such a "drag in the mud"!"

Jennifer and Maggie went in one paddle boat, while Robin felt more comfortable staying with Heather in another paddle boat. They all wore life jackets, but Robin still felt uneasy.

Soon, though, she forgot about her uneasiness, as she and Heather tried to win the race against Maggie and Jennifer.

Meanwhile, after having taken lessons, and gotten a shower, Charlie and Lisa took a stroll around the grounds. They had gone to the stables first, and were surprised not to see Heather and the girls there.

"Where could they be?" Lisa asked.

"Maybe they went to feed the ducks," Charlie said, "let's look down by the lake."

When they got there, they were surprised to see the girls in the middle of the lake, on paddle boats. They were relieved to see that they were wearing life jackets, but were annoyed that Heather had taken them out there without their permission.

"What kind of a parent does that?" Lisa asked surprised.

"I don't know," Charlie responded, "but I don't think I like it. We'll have to have a talk with Heather."

Charlie and Lisa waited until Heather came in with the girls in their paddle boats. The girls waved and Jenn got so excited trying to show her Mommy and Daddy what they were doing, she stood up.

"Nooo, sit down!" Maggie yelled at Jenn, "you might. . ."

Too late. Jenn lost her balance, and fell right into the lake. Heather yelled over to Maggie to stay put, and dove overboard to get Jennifer. Meanwhile, Charlie kicked off his shoes and started swimming towards Jenn as well. Jenn was sputtering and screaming for help, as she bobbed around in her life jacket.

Heather reached her first, and grabbed her by her jacket and started swimming to shore. Charlie caught up to them and took her the rest of the way. Heather swam back to Robin and Maggie, and told them to follow her back to the dock. Jenn was shaking as Charlie pulled her to shore, and he checked her over to make sure she was alright.

Lisa rushed over, and Jennifer started to cry and cough, and said, "I think I swallowed half the lake!"

"That's okay, sweetie, just cough it up. You'll be fine," Lisa told her, and gave her a big hug. "We are just glad you are okay."

Heather came in with Maggie and Robin, and they all rushed over to see if Jennifer was okay. Not wanting them to know how shaken she was, Jenn put a brave face on. Charlie tried to keep his temper under control as he turned to Heather, and asked if he could speak to her for a second.

"Sure," Heather said. "Run back and clean up, Maggs, see you in a bit."

"Lisa, would you take the girls and get them cleaned up please?" Charlie asked Lisa.

"Sure, hon," Lisa answered. Lisa and Charlie exchanged glances that the twins did not catch. Robin chattered on to her mom about how much fun she had with the boats.

"Well I did, until Jennifer fell overboard, what a dork you are Jenn!"

"I am not," said Jenn.

"Are too!" Robin said.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Lisa exclaimed.

The girls followed Lisa into the cabin. Jennifer changed out of her wet clothes, while Robin cleaned up for lunch.

Meanwhile, Charlie sat down on a bench by the lake to talk to Heather. "Heather, I know we don't know you all that well, and we probably have different parenting techniques, but when you said you would keep the girls, you indicated to us that you would have them watch you and Maggie with your horses, am I correct?" Charlie asked gently.

"Well, yes Charlie, but then Maggie decided the boats would be more fun, so we came here. What's the big deal?" Heather asked flippantly.

Charlie took a deep breath. He was going to try to stay patient. "The deal is, that if my girls are with you, I need to know exactly where they are and what they are doing. It's just the way things are in my family."

Heather frowned, still not understanding where Charlie was coming from. Charlie sighed, knowing he was not getting through. "Look Heather, my problem is that I would have liked to have one adult in each boat. If Jennifer had stood up, an adult would have pulled her back in, and she wouldn't have fallen overboard, right?"

"Well, I guess so," replied Heather.

Charlie decided that he was getting nowhere, and that he might as well drop it. "Let's go get cleaned up for lunch, Heather," he said.

Heather was happy to change the conversation. She still did not realize that Charlie was annoyed with her. As they walked back to the cabin, Heather told Charlie that she was a single mom, that her ex left her when she was pregnant with Maggie, but that they were really too young to be married anyway.

"Really?" Charlie replied, "well how old were you when you had Maggie?" "Well, umm, 16," Heather replied. "After I had the baby, my mom let me stay home and she has taken over most of the upbringing. I only have Maggie full time in the summers."

Charlie was a little shocked but didn't say anything, except, "Well, I am sure it is hard for you, and that you are doing the best you can to be both mom and dad to her."

Heather looked at Charlie, took a deep breath, and said, "You know, kids sure don't come with a manual, do they?"

"No," Charlie replied, "they don't."

"You and your wife seem to have it sooo together," Heather said, almost in a whine.

"Well, we work at it all the time, we communicate, and are lucky that we have each other, and share common views on child rearing. I know you don't know this, but Lisa is their stepmom, but she loves the twins as if they were biologically hers, and they adore her. Their mom died when they were 3, in a car accident. They hardly remember her anymore."

"How sad," Heather remarked. "I would never have guessed that Lisa wasn't their real mom."

"Well, she is real, Heather," Charlie replied.

Just then, they approached the cabins, and Charlie said goodbye to a thoughtful Heather.

Walking into their cabin, Charlie heard the happy chatter of the twins, and was reminded again of how lucky they all were to be a family. He came up behind Lisa, and grabbed her in a bear hug.

Startled, Lisa asked, "What was that for?"

Charlie spun her around, kissed her soundly, and said, "Because I feel soo lucky to have you in my life."

Lisa held him tightly, and whispered into Charlie's ear, "I love you soooo much.

The twins came bounding in from their room, and ran to their dad for a hug, too.

"Daddy, are you mad we went in the paddle boats?" Robin asked.

"I was not happy, Robin, but since Heather told you it was okay and you were listening to her, which is what I told you both to do, I am not angry at either one of you," he answered.

"Ohh, are you mad at Heather, Daddy?" Jenn asked. "Did you have her stay behind to lecture her?"

Charlie chuckled. "No, sweetie, Heather is a grown up and although we don't see things the same way, she did what she thought was right."

"We can still play with Maggie though, right Daddy?" asked a nervous Robin.

"Yes, sweetie, you can," Charlie reassured her.

Robin sighed, and said, "Goody, now I am starved, are we gonna eat?"

"Yes", Charlie said, "just give me a second to wash up, okay?"

Charlie tried to hurry as the twins shouted encouragement to him. Laughing, he came into the living room, scooped them both up, and headed out the door. Both twins were laughing loudly and didn't see Maggie, standing in the doorway of her cabin, looking at them wistfully.

(To be continued)

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