It was that time of year when Kate Bradley prepared her famous bachelor butter – a scrumptious treat that she made annually for all of the unmarried men in the valley. These bachelors included Uncle Joe, Charley, Floyd, and Sam Drucker. Kate and her daughters loved preparing bachelor butter for their male friends. For the recipe, Kate needed lots and lots of apples. Only the best apples would do. She sent her daughters to the apple orchards to pick them. Charley and Floyd were always happy to help. As they drove the train through the valley, they made frequent stops to pick apples.
Bobbie Jo and Betty Jo were riding the Cannonball on the way home from school. They helped Charley and Floyd pick apples at every stop.
"Mom is going to love these apples," said Betty as she filled her basket with only the fattest and reddest apples.
"I hope so," said Bobbie, who was busy filling her own basket. "Remember, she needs only the best for the bachelor butter. That's what makes it so delicious."
"No, the prime ingredient is love," said Betty, smiling.
"I suppose," Bobbie quipped, pressing an apple against her nose to enjoy the tantalizing smell. "Mmmm, I think this season's bachelor butter is going to be the best yet."
"I know, I can't wait!" Betty said, excitedly.
Charley and Floyd came by and collected the baskets when they were full. They were both quite sweaty and tired from picking loads of apples and carrying the heavy baskets to the train.
"You're doing a great job, girls," Charley told them. "Your mother is going to be real proud of ya."
Bobbie stood on her tiptoes and tried to reach an apple on a high branch. She reached as high as she could but the particular apple was too high.
"Hold on, Bobbie, I'll get for you," Betty said as she began to climb the tree. She was a tomboy which made her an expert tree climber.
"Bring me that one please," said Bobbie, pointing to the apple she wanted.
Betty picked the apple and then came down from the tree. She put the apple into her own basket.
"Hey, that was my apple!" Bobbie snapped.
"Well, I'm the one who climbed the tree," Betty said.
Bobbie held out her hand. "Give me back my apple."
"It's my apple now."
"Betty Jo…stop playing games. I'm serious."
"Nope," said Betty, shaking her head.
Bobbie put her hands on her hips. "If you don't give me back that apple I'm going to take it from you."
Betty grabbed the special apple and held it tight. Bobbie lunged at her and tried to take the apple, but Betty held it out of her reach.
"Give it to me!" Bobbie shouted.
"It's mine! It's mine!"
Soon the girls were wrestling on the ground. Charley and Floyd ran over and tried to separate them.
"Okay, okay, that's enough!" Charley said, dragging Betty away from her sister.
"Break it up!" Floyd said as he held back Bobby.
"She stole my apple!" Bobbie cried.
"I did not steal it. I picked it. All's fair in love and apple picking," Betty said, sticking out her tongue.
Charley grabbed them both by an arm. "Stop acting like children and get back to your work," he said, firmly.
"What about my apple?" Bobbie demanded.
"I'll hold onto it for safe keeping," Charley said, taking the apple from Betty's hand.
The two sisters glared at each other as they continued their work. They worked on separate trees so they wouldn't have to be close together. They remained silent for a few minutes. Bobbie glanced over her shoulder and watched Betty from behind as she picked. Bobbie noticed that her sister's arms were high over her head. This gave Bobbie an idea about how to get back at her.
Bobbie snuck up behind Betty and dug her fingers into her sides. Betty belted out a laugh and fell down to her knees.
"This will teach you, sister dear!"
"B-BOBBIE! Stahahahap! Haaahahahaha!" Betty squealed as she was pinned down and tickled by her older sister.
Bobbie giggled and continued her assault. She tickled Betty's sides for a while and then attacked her ribcage.
"NOT THERE! AAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAHAHA THAT'S MY WORST SPOT! HEEHEEHEEHEEHEHEHEEEHE! BOBBIE, YOU JERK! C-CUT IT OUT! HAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Betty howled, writhing around beneath her now dominant sister.
Finally, Betty got free and started running away. Bobbie chased her all around the orchard.
Betty wasn't looking where she was going and she bumped right into Charley. He wrapped his arms around her and held her in place. "Hey, now! Settle down, Betty Jo. What's the trouble?" he inquired.
"It's…it's Bobbie Jo! She's after me!" Betty explained, out of breath.
"Why is she chasing you?"
"Because she's crazy! Let me go! If she catches me, she'll tickle me again!"
Charley's eyes widened. "Is that a fact?"
"Yes, now let me go!"
Charley chuckled and released her. Betty hid behind Charley when Bobbie came running up to them.
"Charley, have you seen Betty?"
"Betty who?"
"Betty Jo Bradley, my kid sister."
Charley scratched his chin in mock thought. "Hmm…nope. The name doesn't ring a bell."
Bobbie rolled her eyes. "Charley, stop kidding around. I know she's around here somewhere."
"What do you want her for?"
"I'm going to finish what I started. I'm going to give her the tickling of her life."
"Oh, well, I guess you better start looking for her then. Maybe she went that way." Charley pointed to a patch of trees in the distance.
"Thanks. Let me know if you happen to see her." Bobbie said, running away to search for her sister.
Betty came out when the coast was clear. "Phew! Thanks, Charley, I thought she was going to catch me for sure."
"Why does she want to tickle you so badly?" asked Charley.
"Oh, she's just sore at me because I took the apple she wanted."
Charley shook his head in disbelief. "All that squabbling over a little apple?"
"It's a sister thing."
Charley nodded. "Yeah, I reckon."
Betty kept looking around to make sure Bobby wouldn't sneak up on her again.
"Where are you most ticklish at, Betty Jo?"
"Oh, pretty much everywhere," she admitted. "But especially on my ribs. Bobby kept tickling me there and it drove me wild."
Charley smirked. "Well, well, that information should come in handy."
Betty stared at him with wide eyes. "Huh?"
"Now that I think about it, you really do look like you need a good tickling," he said, mischievously.
Betty held up her hands and started backing away from him. "Charley, no…"
"Just call me the tickle monster," he chuckled.
Betty tried to make a run for it, but Charley pulled her to the ground and rolled her onto her back. He dug his fingers into her ribs and stomach, making her scream and laugh.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA CHARLEY STOOOOP! HEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEHE! QUIT TICKLING MEEEE!"
She thrashed and writhed but Charley's massive bulk on top of her made it impossible to escape. She pounded her fists against him and pulled at his hair. He tickled her mercilessly until her cheeks turned bright red.
"I'm sorry, Betty Jo. I reckon I got carried away," he said, giving her shoulder an affectionate squeeze.
"I'll say you did," she said, catching her breath.
Charley looked around for Bobbie Jo. "Say, where did your sister run off to?"
"You sent her over there to look for me, remember?"
"Yeah, we better get her back before she gets lost. Bobbie! Bobbie Jo! Come quick, I found your sister!"
Betty began to panic. "You're not going to let her tickle me again, are you?"
"No, no, you've had enough for one day. But maybe we'll see how much she can take, huh?"
Betty grinned evilly. "Yeah, that sounds good."
Bobbie returned after a few minutes, looking quite worn out. "Charley, I can't find Betty anywhere…"
"Oh, she's been right here with me the whole time," Charley said, smirking.
"Hi!" Betty said, waving.
Bobbie stared at them in confusion. "What the…"
"You're in trouble now, sis," said Betty. With that, she and Charley lunged at Bobbie and pinned her to the ground. Charley held her legs down and Betty removed her shoes.
"What's going on?! What are you doing?" Bobbie asked, nervously.
Betty scribbled her fingers all over her sister's bare soles.
"OH DEAR! STOP IT! HEEHEEHEEHEHEEHEHEHEHEE! BETTY JO, DON'T TICKLE HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Bobbie shrieked.
Betty giggled and tickled the undersides of Bobbie's pretty toes.
"PLEASE STOP AAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH I CAN'T TAKE IT! I CAN'T! EEEHEEHEEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEE! HAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! NOOO MOOORE!"
After a while, Betty stopped tickling her and Charley released her legs. Bobbie sat up quickly and gasped for air.
"Wasn't that fun?" asked Betty, smiling.
"Oh! You!" Bobbie gave her a shove.
"This whole thing started because you two girls were fighting over that apple," Charley pointed out.
"Yeah, I'm sorry about that," Betty told her sister. "I should have given you the apple when you asked for it. I was really selfish. Do you forgive me, Bobbie?"
Bobbie stood up and patted her on the back. "Don't worry about it. It's fine. It was only an apple. I shouldn't have made such a big deal about it."
The two sisters shared a big hug. Charley smiled warmly as he watched them.
Bobbie and Betty looked at each other, grinning.
"We have Charley to thank for getting us back together," said Bobbie.
"Yeah, we should give him a reward," giggled Betty.
"What should we do for him?" asked Bobbie.
"I say we…TICKLE HIM!"
With that, the girls pushed him down and rolled him onto his back. They each grabbed an ankle and put it in a headlock.
"NO! Please, girls! Not the feet!" Charley begged as they removed his shoes and socks.
Bobbie and Betty began tickling his bare soles. Charley burst into screaming laughter. His feet were a hundred times more ticklish than Bobbie Jo's. He writhed and thrashed so hard that the girls could barely hold onto his ankles.
"AAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA NOOOOOOO! DON'T TICKLE MY FEET! OOOOOOOOOHH PLEASE PLEEEEEEASE HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA IT TIHIHIHICKLES!" Charley wailed, tears rolling down his cheeks.
Bobbie and Betty had to sit on his ankles to hold them down. Bobbie tortured his right foot and Betty tortured the left one. They tickle tortured his feet without a shred of mercy. Bobbie tickled between and under his toes. Betty scratched his sole with all of her fingers.
Charley threw back his head and laughed so hard that his face turned as red as the apples they had been picking. He writhed and bucked and clawed furiously at the dirt beneath him. He screamed for Floyd to help him.
"Tickle tickle tickle! Coochie coochie coo, Charley!" teased the girls.
After a few minutes, they stopped tickling him and allowed him to catch his breath. His face was deep red and there were tears streaming down his neck. He was covered in sweat. He took a long time to regain his composure.
Floyd walked past them and shook his head in disbelief. He was carrying a basket of apples in each arm. "Where have you all been? I was looking everywhere for you. I had to pick all these apples by myself. If you three keep this up, none of you will get any bachelor butter!"
"Sorry, we got a little sidetracked," Betty apologized.
"Well, hurry up and help me get these apples to the train," Floyd ordered.
Charley used his sleeve to wipe his sweaty face. "He's right. It's getting late. We better get a move on."
Bobbie and Betty gathered up all of the apples they had collected and carried them to the train. Moments later, they were on their way home. Soon they would be receiving the delicious reward for their labors…Kate's homemade bachelor butter.
The End