Linda stood on her tiptoes and reached up to dust the top of the mantle in the living room. Once finished, she stood back and admired her handiwork, pleased with herself. She glanced over at the items on the coffee table, then at the fireplace. A sly grin slowly spread across her face as she looked around; she heard her mother in the kitchen. The young girl looked back at the items, staring intently on the wood clock.
The clock shuddered a little, then slowly rose into the air; Linda kept her eyes on the object as it hovered over to the mantle. It was halfway to the mantle when Martha came in, carrying a plate of fresh-from-the-oven chocolate chip cookies; she stopped short when she saw her daughter staring at the floating clock and raised an eyebrow.
"Trying to make time fly?" Martha asked wryly.
Startled, Linda lost her hold on the clock and it suddenly dropped, but the young girl deftly caught it in her hands; the glanced at her adoptive mother with a sheepish expression. "Sorry, Mom," she said as she manually put the clock on the mantle then did the same with the others.
Martha smiled. "It's okay, sweetie," she said. "Why don't you take a break and have some cookies?" The two headed over to the couch and sat down; Martha put the plate on the coffee table, and Linda grabbed two cookies, munching on the cookie in her right hand while holding the other in her left hand.
"So, is my punishment gonna to be over today?" Linda asked around a mouthful. "It's been, like, forever."
"Only because you're young," Martha replied. "The older you get, the more time seems to just fly by, but it has been a few weeks—and school is starting soon—so I'll talk with your father, and we'll see what he says."
"Hello?"
Martha and Linda looked over and saw Jonathan coming through the kitchen door, holding a medium-sized cardboard box in his hands; he spotted his ladies in the living room, grinned, and shut the door with his foot before heading over. "Hey, you two."
"You're in a good mood," Martha replied, getting to her feet and kissing her husband.
"Well, the deliveries went well," Jonathan replied, "and I have a surprise—two, actually," he glanced over at Linda and saw her staring intently at the box, "and no peeking, Linda."
"So, what's in the box?" Linda asked eagerly.
Still grinning, Jonathan set the box on the coffee table and moved the plate of cookies to the mantle. He took a deep breath and pulled back the top flaps; he reached inside and pulled out a tiny orange kitten with blue eyes; it looked a little undernourished as it gazed up at Linda and gave a small mewl.
"Oh, it's a kitten!" Linda gushed, her eyes wide with delight as Jonathan handed the tiny animal to her; she carefully cradled it in her arms.
"A kitten?" Martha asked, staring at her husband, eyebrows raised.
"Not just a kitten," Jonathan replied. He reached back into the box and pulled out a small, stark white puppy; it shook and whimpered softly in Jonathan's hands and looked just as undernourished as the kitten.
"A puppy!" Linda squealed softly. She gently balanced the kitten in one hand before Jonathan gave her the puppy.
"The puppy's a boy, and the kitten's a girl," Jonathan said. Linda held both of the animals in her arms and gushed over them as Martha pulled her husband aside.
"Jonathan, where did you get them?" she asked.
"I was driving down Route 15," Jonathan answered, "and they were in the middle of the road; I nearly hit them. I couldn't just leave them there, so I took them to the animal shelter, but they told me they were completely full and couldn't take in more animals. Martha, I couldn't just get rid of them, so I took them to Dr. Shultz and had them checked out; he said the puppy is actually a white German Shepherd. They were a little malnourished but otherwise perfectly healthy, and I know you've been wanting to get a dog and cat anyways, so I got them vaccinated and picked up some supplies at the then got them some food and few supplies."
Martha sighed. "Jonathan, you think Linda is ready to have pets?"
"Yes, I do," Jonathan replied, then he smiled. "Besides, we're a haven for strays, so I couldn't resist."
"Well, you're right about that," she replied as she he glanced over at Linda, watching as the young girl gushed at the two animals; Martha sighed, smiling a little. "I guess we can keep them."
"I have a name for the puppy," Linda said proudly as they came back over. "Krypto."
Jonathan furrowed his eyebrows. "Krypto?"
Linda nodded. "He shakes a lot, and I'm afraid if he doesn't stop he'll shake himself apart."
Martha smiled as she glanced over at Jonathan, who looked a little less amused. "And the kitten?" she asked.
"Well, her stripes almost look like little streaks," Linda said, "so I think I'm gonna name her Streaky. Can I show them my room?"
"Sure, sweetie," Jonathan smiled. He and Martha watched as Linda headed up the kitchen stairs, softly talking to her new friends, reassuring them that they were safe and had a new home.
Linda sat cross-legged on her bed (the frame had been reinforced with steel rods to prevent it collapsing again), with Krypto in her lap. Her gentle manner had caused the puppy to stop trembling and stare up at the young girl with wide brown eyes. Streaky had set it upon herself to explore the room, making sure that everything was sniffed and pawed.
"Now, Krypto," Linda spoke to the puppy in a small, reassuring voice, "I know things are a bit overwhelming right now—I felt the same way when I first came here—but my new family made it easier; they took care of me, just like I'm going to take care of you." Streaky jumped up on the bed and fixed the young girl with curious gaze, and Linda smiled as she scratched the kitten behind her ears. "You too, Streaky." A knock on her bedroom door interrupted her thoughts. "Come in." She looked over as the door opened and Jonathan and Martha came in.
"And how are they settling in?" Jonathan asked, smiling.
"So far, so good," Linda replied.
"Linda, your mother and I have something we want to talk to you about," Jonathan said. He came over and sat on the bed while Martha stood next to him. Streaky came over and nuzzled against the farmer; Jonathan chuckled and scratched the kitten behind her ears.
"Am I in trouble again?" Linda asked worriedly.
"No," Jonathan replied, "in fact, we want to let you know that we've talked about it, and as of now, your punishment is officially over."
Linda's eyes widened. "Really?"
"Really," Martha said, smiling.
"Just as long as you've learned your lesson," Jonathan added.
"I have," Linda replied.
"And what did you learn?" Martha asked.
"That if someone offers to hotwire my father's truck," Linda answered, "not to agree to it."
Jonathan nodded. "And?"
"There's an 'and?'" Linda asked.
"Yes, there's an 'and,'" Martha replied.
"And…even if Clark contacts me for help," Linda said slowly, "I need to tell you about it?"
"And?" Jonathan prompted.
Linda looked a little confused. "There's another one?" Jonathan gave her a look; she sighed. "Okay, okay," she thought for a moment, "and sneaking out of the house is a very bad thing." Jonathan and Martha looked pleased. "That it?"
"That's it, sweetie," Jonathan said. He patted her knee and kissed her forehead before standing up. "That being said, I'm going to get some work done in the fields."
"And I need to do some work in the garden," Martha replied.
"Well, since I'm not being punished anymore," Linda said, "can I use the phone and call Clark? I want to tell him about Krypto and Streaky."
"Of course," Martha replied. "Just don't be too long. You're starting school day after tomorrow, and there's still a lot of stuff we need to take care of." Linda grinned as her parents headed out of her room. She turned, grabbed the phone off her nightstand, and dialed Clark's work number. It rang once…twice…thr—
"Daily Planet, Clark Kent's desk," a familiar voice answered.
Linda stiffened when she recognized the voice. "Jimmy?" she asked. She hadn't spoken to him since being grounded; while she had made the decision to set aside her romantic feelings she had for the sake of her friendship with Jimmy it still felt a little strange talking to him.
"Linda?" Jimmy asked, sounding just as surprised. "Uh, hi."
"Hi," Linda replied softly. "Did I dial the wrong number?"
"If you're trying to reach Clark, no," Jimmy answered, "but he's in a meeting right now; he's going to be there for a while."
"Oh," Linda said, a little disappointed.
"Is there something I can help you out with?" Jimmy asked.
"No, I just wanted to talk to Clark about something, that's all," Linda said.
"Oh," Jimmy replied, trying not to sound too disappointed, "okay." He sighed. "Well, I guess I'll let you go then."
"Jimmy, wait," Linda said quickly. Despite everything, it wasn't until she'd heard Jimmy's voice that she realized how much she had missed talking to someone her own age. "Look, um…I don't exactly have to go right away, so we can talk if you're not busy."
"Linda, if you don't want to, we don't have to," Jimmy said. "I'll understand."
"No, I want to," Linda replied. "Honest."
Jimmy smiled, feeling a whole lot better. "Alright," he said. "So, uh…how are you doing?"
"I'm okay," Linda answered. "I'm finally ungrounded. How about you?"
"Got a couple more days," Jimmy replied. "Chief's still riding me, and Bibbo's making me work extra hours at his place, and then Mom's making sure I have chores lined up when I get home."
"I'm sorry," Linda said sincerely.
"Hey, I'm still alive," Jimmy replied, shrugging. "So, what's going on?"
"Well, I got two pets today," Linda answered.
"Wow, really?" Jimmy asked. "That's really cool; I've always wanted a pet. What did you get?"
Linda grinned more. "I got an orange kitten—and I named her Streaky."
"Streaky?" Jimmy asked.
"Yeah, she's got the stripes on her that look like streaks," Linda replied. "I also got a white puppy, and I decided to name him Krypto."
"Krypto?" Jimmy asked. "As in 'Krypton?'"
"Yeah," Linda replied. "He was shaking so much, and I remembered reading about how Krypton exploded, so I decided on Krypto."
Jimmy chuckled, realizing that he had really missed hearing Linda's voice. He sat down in Clark's chair and started straightening the stuff on his friend's desk; he figured he had at least a good ten minutes before Clark came back, and the young photographer was going to make the most of it. "So," he said, "tell me more about your new pets, Linda."
Linda smiled as she settled back against her pillows, letting Krypto and Streaky crawl all over her as she continued talking with Jimmy.
(End of Chapter 1)