The Dude Ranch-chapter 3
By SamPast and Huggedlots
Copyright © 1999, All rights reserved

The next morning, Jenn woke up first, and headed into the bathroom to change out of her pantsies before Maggie found out that she slept in them. The last thing she wanted was for Maggie to think less of her for her bladder control problems. She wrapped them thoroughly and threw them away before anyone else was up.

Tiptoeing back into her room, she saw that Robin and Maggie were just waking up. Robin, guessing where Jenn has been and what she has been doing, gave her a look that said, "Don't worry, I won't say anything." Jenn gratefully got the message. As twins, they often communicated without words.

Maggie looked confused for a second and then remembered where she was. Robin caught a sad look on her face and wondered if she was worried about her mom. Robin couldn't begin to imagine EVER being left somewhere without knowing where her mommy and daddy were. She began to wonder how happy a life Maggie had.

"Lets all get dressed and ready for camp, everyone!" Jenn said.

"Well," Maggie replied, "I have to go get my stuff, guess I will head back to my cabin. See ya for breakfast, okay?"

Maggie dashed out the door before the twins could stop her and tell her she should ask their folks first. Jenn and Robin looked at each other and shook their heads.

Jenn said, "Wow, wouldn't it be neat to never have to ask permission, and do what you want to do?"

"I don't know," replied Robin, "I am not sure Maggie is all that happy about it."

"What do you mean?" Jenn asked.

"I mean, well, ahh, think about it Jenn, would you like it if you had to eat alone, take a bath by yourself, go to bed all alone, without Mommy and Daddy, and without ME?" Robin added.

Jenn hadn't thought about that part. "I guess not, Robin."

With a grin at each other, they ran into Charlie and Lisa's room, and jumped into bed with them. "Good morning!" they chirped.

Charlie pretended to be asleep, but had heard the girls talking to each other. The girls began to tickle him, and Charlie started to tickle back and toss them around. Lisa got into it, too, and they were all giggling and rolling around when Maggie came back to the cabin.

She paused at the door, taking in the scene, and cannot believe what she saw. She couldn't imagine her mom or grandma ever playing with her like that. A deep feeling of unhappiness welled up inside of her and she felt sad and left out.

Just at that moment, Charlie looked up and saw Maggie's little forlorn face in the doorway. "Hey Maggie," he yelled, "jump on in, the waters fine!"

Maggie hesitated, unsure of herself, yet wanting desperately to be a part of this happy family. Lisa jumped out of bed, grabbed Maggie around the waist and threw her on the bed. Maggie let out a whoop as she sailed through the air, and landed on Charlie. Charlie started to tickle her as well, and threw her in the air.

"More Daddy, more!" the twins yelled at him.

Maggie was laughing so hard she could hardly breathe, and Charlie set her back onto the bed. "Okay, you guys, now scoot so Mommy and I can get dressed and take you to breakfast. Maggie, is your mom going to join us?"

The smile quickly faded from Maggie's face, and she said, "Umm, no, Mom has a headache and doesn't feel well, so she said for me to eat and go to camp." Seeing her friend's face, Robin quickly jumped in and pulled Maggie's hand. "Come on, I have a new game to show you while Mommy and Daddy get dressed. Gosh, I'm starved, are you?" Robin chattered and lead Maggie away.

Charlie looked at Lisa and said, "Great, Heather is hung over."

"Well," Lisa said, "we knew she was drinking last night, let's get the girls to breakfast and camp, and then when Heather gets up, maybe we can talk to her, okay?"

The gong sounded, and the girls were raring to go. "Come on slowpokes!" they yelled to their parents.

"Lets go!" Maggie told the twins.

They looked at her as if she was demented. "We can't," Robin said.

"Why not?" asked Maggie.

"Cause we have to wait," Jennifer explained.

"Why?" Maggie was really confused.

Charlie heard this exchange, and came into the living room. "Okay, I would like the three of you to sit down for a sec."

Robin and Jenn exchanged glances, and tried to figure out if they were in trouble. Seeing that, Charlie laughed, and said, "NO, no one is in trouble, girls. At least not yet." He gave them a stern look, but smiled so they knew he was teasing. Looking over at Maggie, he talked to her first.

"Maggie, I know you don't know all of our families rules, and that your mom has different rules for you. But, I need you to understand, that while you are with THIS family, you will need to obey the same rules as Jennifer and Robin, and that if you do not, you will be sent home as a punishment. Is that understood?"

Maggie didn't know what to say, so she just nodded her head. "Okay, girls?"

"Yes, Daddy?"

Charlie continued, "I expect you to help Maggie understand the rules, but most importantly, I need you both to remember them. I do not want to punish either of you but if I have to, I certainly will. Please do not make that necessary, okay?"

"Yes Sir," they both replied quickly. Neither of them wanted that either. They never planned for it to happen, really. It just kinda, sorta did.

"Okay, now today is the first day of camp. After breakfast Mommy and I will go over with all of you, and talk to the counselors. You need to follow the rules of the camp, and make sure you listen to your counselors. They will tell you if something is dangerous or not. IS that clear?" Charlie asked.

"Yes Sir." This time all three girls replied, and Charlie was hard put not to smile. They all looked at him sooo intently, his heart was touched.

"Okay, I want you all to have fun, but be safe. Got it? He got up and grabbed Maggie and Jenn off their chairs, and Robin jumped on his back. They all fell onto the floor, and started to tickle Charlie.

Lisa came out of the bedroom, and said, "Okay you all, last one to the dining room is a rotten egg," and flew out the door.

Maggie was stunned at how they all laughed and played together and was rooted to the spot.

"Come on!" Jenn yelled, "we can't let her beat us, runnnnn, will ya?"

Out the door they all went, happily laughing and yelling until they got to the dining room. After a hearty breakfast of pancakes and scrambled eggs, Charlie and Lisa asked Maggie if she wanted to go check on her mom before they headed to camp. Maggie shook her head NO, and they decided not to press.

"Off we go!" Charlie said. And holding all three of the girls hands they skipped off to camp.

Charlie talked to the head counselor and signed the girls up for the week, asking about the activities, and the rules and safety precautions. After telling them that he would be back to pick them up at 5:00 pm, he hugged and kissed all three girls and headed back with Lisa so they could decide what to do with themselves for the day.

The counselors got all the campers together, and told them that their first activity would be horseback riding. The girls were thrilled and started jumping all over the place. As they headed to the stables, Maggie looked over at her cabin, and saw her mother outside smoking a cigarette. She tried to wave, but her mom didn't see her.

Maggie decided to break away from the group, and ran over to her Mom. Heather, who was feeling rotten, and was not especially glad to see Maggie, said, "Why are you here? Shouldn't you be in camp?"

Maggie, hoping for a hug, or at least some explanation of where her mom had been the night before, yelled, "I HATE YOU, YOU DON'T LOVE ME, I HATE YOU, and ran off crying.

Charlie and Lisa heard Maggie screaming, and ran out, but are too late to catch her.

"What happened?" Charlie asked Heather.

"Shit, damned if I know," replied Heather.

"Well, don't you think you SHOULD KNOW?" Charlie yelled at her.

"Hey man, get off my back. I don't need YOU in my face," Heather yelled back. And with that, she went into her cabin and slammed the door.

Charlie was about to bang on the door, when Lisa stopped him. "Hon, please listen to me, I know you care about Maggie, and want to help, but yelling at Heather, when she has a hangover isn't the way to do it, okay? Please? Lets just go make sure that Maggie went back to camp."

Charlie agreed and nodded reluctantly. Lisa held out her hand to him. "Come on, Sweetie, let's find Maggie."

Together they went to the stables where the girls were supposed to be. Seeing them, the twins ran over to them. "Have you seen Maggie, girls?" Charlie asked.

"We saw her go to her cabin, and Heather was on the porch, but we haven't seen her since. We figured she needed some time with her mom," said Robin.

Lisa and Charlie didn't want to worry the girls, but they sensed something anyway.

"Whats up?" asked Robin.

"Well sweetie, Maggie and her mom had some words. Maggie got upset and ran this way, so we decided to check and see if she was okay. Come help us find her, okay?" Lisa said gently.

Both twins agreed immediately, and fanned out looking for her. They found her in her pony's stall, crying on his mane.

Charlie's first thought was to run over and grab Maggie up and hold her until she cried it out. But as he walked closer, Maggie looked up and saw him and said, "No, go away! I don't need you."

The twins were shocked that their friend said that. Charlie turned to Lisa and said, "Why don't you bring the girls back? Their counselor, Adam, is probably wondering where they went. We'll be fine."

Lisa turned the twins around and left Charlie alone with Maggie.

Charlie said, "Hey, want to talk about it?"

"NO! Why don't you just leave me alone? I'm not your daughter!" Maggie shouted.

Charlie could tell this little girl was hurting, and he felt useless. He wanted to help, but what she needed he couldn't give her. Not permanently, anyway.

"No, you're not my daughter, but I'd like to help you anyway," he told her.

"Why? Why do you care?" Maggie asked.

"Look, Maggie, I'm not your father, but. . ." Charlie began, but stopped when the little girl said something inaudibly. "What did you say?" Charlie asked.

Very quietly, Maggie said, "I wish you were. My father, I mean." Then she looked at her feet. She was embarrassed to feel the way she did.

Charlie sat down on a stack of hay, and motioned her over. "C'mere!"

Maggie hesitated. "C'mon, we're just going to talk," Charlie uttered.

Maggie walked over to Charlie. He stood her in front of him, and said, "You're right, I can't be your father, no matter how much you wish it, but I can be your friend. Right?"

Maggie nodded. She didn't trust herself to speak.

"Well, friends talk to each other when they're hurting, don't they?" Charlie paused long enough for Maggie to nod, and then continued. "And you're hurting, so I want to try to help. Will you let me?"

As an answer, Maggie flung herself into Charlie's arms. Charlie held the little girl tightly to his chest while she sobbed, for several minutes. Finally, Maggie pushed away, and said, "Thank you!"

"I didn't do anything yet," Charlie answered honestly.

"Yes, you did. You cared when I was upset, and you held me. No one's ever done that for me before!" Maggie said.

"Surely, your mom has, when you've been hurt, or. . ." Charlie started to say. He stopped when he noticed Maggie shaking her head from side to side.

"Nope, never. She always turns it into a joke or a game and says, 'Oh, come on, you're all right, don't be silly'. She never holds me when I cry. I try not to cry in front of her anymore," Maggie added.

Charlie's heart was broken. He felt so bad for this young girl. He knew he had to try to help. Maybe he could talk to Heather and turn that young lady around. Both these girls, because that's really what Heather was-a girl, needed help.

For now, though, Charlie talked quietly with Maggie until she was ready to rejoin the camp group.

"Um, Mr. Clemente?" Maggie asked.

"Yes, Maggie."

"Um, since you're my friend, can I call you something else? I know I can't call you Daddy, but. . ." Maggie stopped. She felt stupid.

Charlie said, "How about Uncle Charlie? That's what our friends' children call us-Uncle Charlie and Aunt Lisa. Would that be okay?"

"That would be great. Thank you, Mr. Cl-, I mean, Uncle Charlie. You're the best!" Maggie yelled.

Charlie returned Maggie to the camp group and went off to find Lisa. He wanted to fill her in on what happened in the stables. And, he wanted to have a long talk with Heather.

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