Nick slowly walked down the stairs rubbing his throat. Victoria met him at the bottom of the stairs.
"Good morning, Nick," said Victoria.
"Mor.. morn... Mornin' ... Mother." Nick's throat was sore and it was hard to talk.
"What's wrong, Nick?" Victoria asked.
"My.. throat," Nick answered.
"Morning," said Heath, "What's wrong with Nick?" he asked Victoria.
"His throat is hurting."
"Probably from all that yelling he was doing yesterday," said Heath.
"Why were you yelling?" Victoria questioned Nick.
Nick tried to answer her, but he was finding it hard to talk.
"Heath, would you go get the doctor?" Victoria asked.
"Alright," Heath agreed.
"I.. don.." started Nick.
"Nick, I don't want you to say another word until the doctor tells you to," Victoria ordered her son.
"Bu.."
"No buts, Nicholas," said Victoria. Heath laughed; there was no way Nick could stay quiet. Heath quickly left the room when Nick glared at him.
Doctor Merar was sorting through his medicines when Heath walked into the room.
"Who's hurt this time?" asked Doctor Merar.
"Nick."
"What did he do?"
"He's got a sore throat. Mother wanted you to come look at him."
"Let me get my bag."
Doctor Merar walked out of Nick's room and down the stairs. He was met at the bottom of the stairs by the three other Barkley children.
"What's wrong with him this time?" asked Jarrod.
"All the yelling he did yesterday has made his throat very sore. He shouldn't be allowed to talk for at least two days," said Doctor Merar.
The three Barkleys grinned at one another; they knew that Nick couldn't go an hour without talking.
"Have you told Nick that?" asked Heath.
"No, I figured to let you do that," answered Doctor Merar. Jarrod showed the doctor to the door.
When Jarrod came back into the room, Audra and Heath had put together a plan. Jarrod agreed to go along with it.
"Well what did the doctor say?" asked Victoria. She had been upstairs with Nick so she didn't hear what the doctor had told them.
"He said that Nick shouldn't be allowed to talk for a week."
"A..." Nick started to say something, but the four other Barkleys told him to be quiet. Victoria could see that Audra was trying not to laugh and the laugh that Jarrod so easily hid from his brother and Heath, she could see laughter in his eyes.
"Nick, you stay in bed while I go get you some broth," said Victoria. Nick reluctantly nodded his head. Victoria walked out of the room with her three children following close behind. At the bottom of the stairs she turned to the three and asked, "What did the doctor really say?"
The three shared a grin before Heath, decided he would be the one to tell her. "He said Nick shouldn't talk for at least two days."
"How did that two days get changed to a week?" Victoria wondered.
"Remember how Nick, decided to dunk me in the water trough?" Heath asked.
"I recall that Eugene and these two were in on that too." said Victoria.
"Yeah, they were, but it was Nick's idea," corrected Heath.
"I also recall that you pulled him into the water trough too," Victoria reminded him. Audra and Jarrod were beginning to think that Heath was losing to their Mother.
"Yeah, but he didn't get that wet," said Heath.
Victoria rolled her eyes. "I'm going to go get Nick some broth."
The three siblings wondered if Victoria was on their side or not.
On the second day the family was gathered in the parlor after dinner. Jarrod was doing some paper work, Audra and Victoria were sewing and Nick and Heath were playing checkers. Suddenly there was a loud bang and the checkers went flying.
"Nick!" Heath hollered at his brother, "What you did do that for?"
Nick opened his mouth to say something but remembered that he wasn't allowed to talk. He picked up his pen and paper and began to write. Heath looked over his brother's shoulder, reading as he was writing.
"Boy howdy, Nick," said Heath, "all that just because I wasn't paying attention?"
Nick nodded his head and left the room.
"What did he write?" Jarrod asked. Heath handed him the piece of paper. While Jarrod read, Heath picked up the checker pieces.
"I think Nick is getting a little aggravated with not being able to talk," Jarrod observed.
"It's only been a day," said Audra.
"For Nick, its probably seems like he hasn't spoken in weeks," Victoria told them.
On the third day Nick and Jarrod were doing some paper work. Nick's hand was beginning to cramp from all the writing he had been doing for the last few days. Not being able to talk was starting to get on his nerves. Jarrod and Nick had been working on the paper work for about an hour when Heath came in.
"Having fun, Nick?" Heath asked. Nick glared at him. Heath grinned at his brother. Nick picked up his pencil and threw it at Heath. Heath easily dodged it.
"Maybe you should take a break Nick," suggested Jarrod. Nick nodded his head and left the room with Heath following close behind.
"Hey Nick you want to come check fences with me?" Heath asked. Nick hadn't been allowed to go riding the first two days because Victoria wanted to keep an eye on him.
Nick nodded his head yes. The two brothers went outside and saddled their horses. The last three days had been quiet without Nick's yelling.
Jarrod, Heath and Audra were in the parlor relaxing. Nick and Victoria had just gone to bed.
"It sure has been quiet these last few days." Jarrod was the first to break the silence.
"It sure has," Heath agreed.
"I never realized how much Nick yelled," Audra sighed. After a few more minutes of silence Audra asked, "what are we going to do if he finds out?"
"He wont find out," said Heath.
On the fourth day Heath and Nick went to town. Heath stopped the wagon outside of the store. He and Nick both got off. Instead of walking into the store, Nick started to walk down towards the saloon.
"Nick, where are you going?" Heath asked. Nick pointed at the doctor's office, but Heath thought he was pointing to the saloon. "Can't you wait until after we load the wagon?" Nick shook his head. Heath went into the store and gave the clerk their supply list.
Nick walked into the doctor's office and saw that he was busy with another patient. When the doctor finished, he turned to Nick.
"Hello Nick, is your throat felling better?" Doctor Merar asked. Nick nodded his head. "Then why aren't you talking?"
Nick gave the doctor a questioning look. "What do you mean why aren't you talking? You told me not to!"
"I said not to talk for two days not four." The doctor was confused.
"Are you sure?" Nick asked.
"Yes, I'm sure," Doctor Merar answered.
"Why them three..." Nick continued to mumble as he left the doctor's office. He walked straight to the store. When he got there, Heath was carrying a large bag.
"Heath Barkley!" yelled Nick. Heath jumped and dropped the bag on his foot.
"What did you do that for? You're not supposed to be talking." Heath reminded him.
"Not supposed to be talking! Do you know where I just went?" Nick asked.
"I thought you was going to the saloon, but from the sounds of things you went to the doctor, right?"
"Right." Nick walked towards his brother. Heath, gave him a nervous grin. Nick just kept walking towards him. Nick was mad, real mad, and Heath knew it.
"Now Nick, it wasn't just me Audra and Jarrod, were in on it to," said Heath. Jarrod! He's at his office today! thought Heath. He quickly turned and ran from his brother. He ran all the way to Jarrod's office with a very mad Nick following close behind.
"Jarrod!" Heath yelled at his brother as he ran into the room. Heath shut and locked the door behind him.
"What's going on?" Jarrod asked.
"Nick found out." That was all Heath had to say. Jarrod was trying to decide what to do as Nick was pounding on the door, trying to get in.
"Let's go out the back door." Heath nodded his head and followed his brother. They went to the stables and got two horses. They had to pass Jarrod's office to go home. As they passed, Nick yelled at them. Heath and Jarrod couldn't help but laugh as they rode home to escape their brother's anger.
The End