A/N1 The characters in "The Picnic" are base on the Walt Disney's "The Parent Trap" starring Lindsay Lohan. The Characters Hallie Parker, Annie James, Nick Parker, Elizabeth James, Chessy, Martin and Charles are the property of Walt Disney. All rights belong to Walt Disney. The story line of "The Picnic" was created by the author.
A/N2 Chessy's last name wasn't mentioned in the 'Parent Trap' so I'm giving her the last name of Sullivan.
In London, England on December 25th at 6:00 P.M. local time, Nick, Elizabeth, Hallie, Annie, Charles, Chessy, Martin, Nick's sister Jenny, Jenny's husband Derrick, Elisabeth's cousins Sally and James, Sally's husband Tom and James' current girlfriend Eleanor were sitting down at a dining room table with their teas or sodas in their hands.
On top of the dining room table were an uncarved turkey, ham, corn, cranberry sauce, stuffing, mash potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, candy yams, bake beans and dinner rolls.
Just before everyone had started migrating towards the dining room table, Tom had begun a topic on first dates, and that discussion continued as everyone was getting comfortable in his or her dining room chair.
Eleanor talked about her first date with James as everyone was helping his or herself to the food. Her first date story ended once everyone's plate was filled and everyone was eating.
When Eleanor took her first bite of food, Sally asked, "So, Chessy? Martin? What did you two do on your two's first date?"
"We just went on a picnic," Chessy simply said in a tone as if the topic of her first date made her anxious. "Can someone pass the gravy? Please."
As Tom was passing the gravy to Chessy, Hallie pointed out, "Each time your picnic date is mentioned, Chess, you seem to get uneasy and then change the subject."
"I hadn't noticed before, but Hal's right," Nick agreed. "Chess, did something happen to you and Martin during that picnic?"
"Perhaps we should tell them," Martin suggested. Chessy slightly hesitated before nodding in agreement.
On the day that Nick, Hallie, Annie and Meredith left for their camping trip, Chessy and Martin climbed into Chessy's vehicle to go on a picnic.
After getting several miles outside Napa California near a small town, Chessy and Martin left their vehicle and trekked through the woods with their picnic basket and a red plaid blanket. Once they reached a clearly, Chessy gazed over the area before saying, "This is a perfect site for a picnic."
Martin gestured to the most leveled area while saying, "Shall I set up there?"
Chessy nodded with a pleasant grin while saying, "That's a perfect spot."
Martin spread out the blanket, and once Chessy set up the food on the blanket the two sat down.
Before either of them had helped themselves to the food, Chessy asked, "So before you worked for Elizabeth, what did you imagine your life to be?"
Martin slightly grinned before answering, "Don't laugh, but throughout my late teens and early twenties, my plans was to become the next big rock star." Chessy began to hear a weeping sound within the trees as Martin continued to say, "I was determined to become bigger than the Beetles…"
"You hear that?" Chessy asked.
Martin stopped talking and listened to the sounds around him. He then turned towards the trees before saying, "I hear… someone crying… or at least that is what it sounds like to me."
"It sounds like someone's crying to me too," Chessy said as she went to stand up. Martin followed suit. "I can't imagine who else would be out here."
Chessy and Martin followed the weeping into the woods and after a short search, they found an eight-year-old boy sitting on a good size tree trunk that was broken and lying across the ground.
The boy had long black hair and russet skin. His face was buried in his hands while weeping.
"Hello," Chessy said gently while trying not to startle him.
The boy raised his head to look at them. His face was puffy and soaked with tears. Without acting shock to see them, the boy said, "I can't find him."
"Find who?" Martin asked. "Who else is out here?"
The boy slightly grinned before saying, "You're English."
Martin grinned before confirming, "I am."
"I never met anyone from England before."
"Well, who else is out here?" Martin asked again.
"Jack is somewhere out here. I can't find him. Can you help me find him?"
"Is Jack your brother?" Chessy asked.
The boy shook his head before saying, "He's my dog."
"Jack is a dog," Martin said in a relieved tone.
The boy nodded as Chessy asked, "What is your name?"
"I'm Seth," he began. "Jack doesn't know these woods. I think he's lost. Can you help me find him?"
"Do you have a last name, Seth?" Chessy asked.
"It's White-Cloud. We need to find Jack."
"We will," Chessy assured him. "Where do you live though?"
"I'm not going home without Jack," Seth quickly said.
"Okay, Seth," Chessy quickly assured him. "When was the last time you saw Jack?"
"Jack chased a large cat in this direction, but I lost sight of him… at least I think it was a cat that he chased. I didn't get a good look at it."
"So you live nearby?" Martin asked.
"I'm not going home without Jack," Seth repeated more forcibly and agitatedly. The wind began to violently blow.
"Martin didn't mean anything by his question," Chessy assured Seth. "We will help you to find Jack."
The wind calmed down. Seth then nodded while saying in a calmer voice, "Okay."
"I'm Chessy by the way."
Seth stared confusingly at Chessy for a brief moment before pointing in a direction and saying, "We should try that way to look for Jack."
"Okay," Chessy said. "Let's look for Jack."
As everyone began to walk Seth chose the direction that they went.
After taking a few steps, Martin asked, "You're Native American, aren't you?"
"Native American?" Seth echoed confusingly as if he had never heard that term.
"Your nationality is Native American, isn't it?" Martin asked. "Like my nationality is English."
"My nationality is American Indian and I'm from the Shoshone-Bannock nation," Seth said. "A few days ago, me, my dad, my mom, my baby sister and Jack were living on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation."
"So you just very recently moved to this area?" Chessy asked.
Seth nodded before saying, "We must find Jack."
"And we will," Chessy said.
"We should call for him," Seth suggested.
"Okay," Chessy said before she, Martin and Seth called out.
During the passing minutes, the three walked through the woods while taking turns to call out for Jack.
After an hour of searching while walking pretty much in a straight line Martin again suggested, "Seth, we should take you home now."
"No!" Seth screamed. The wind again violently blew. "Jack is out here and I won't go home without him!"
"I was only thinking of your parents," Martin said. "Your parents must be sick while worrying where you are."
"I won't go home without Jack," Seth said while taking a stand. The wind had gotten even stronger.
"Okay; okay, we'll keep looking." Seth nodded and the wind once again died down to a gentle breeze. Martin then whispered in Chessy's ear, "I'll give this a little bit more time and then I'm going back to the car and find the local police."
Chessy nodded while staring delightfully in Martin's eyes, and during the stare, Martin saw an intimate moment and leaned towards Chessy to kiss her.
Chessy allowed the kiss. After a brief moment, the wind had slightly picked up again just as Seth uttered, "You two aren't even looking for Jack!"
Chessy and Martin immediately ended the kiss and as Chessy faced Seth, she said, "We are, Sweetie. I think we need more people out here though to help look for him. We should go and see if your parents will come out and help search."
"No!" Seth uttered as the wind became slightly stronger. "Jack was supposed to have been on his chain. I let him off and dad will be mad at me. I must find Jack."
"Okay, we'll keep looking," Chessy told him, and once again the wind had died down to a light breeze.
"Is the gusting winds normal for this region?" Martin finally asked.
"I don't know what' is up with the winds," Chessy said. She then took hold of Martin's hand, and they held hands as they continued to follow Seth.
After another thirty minutes had passed, Martin whispered to Chessy, "We should attempt to nudge Seth back towards where we had come from before we get lost."
"I've been paying attention to where we're going, and amazingly he is fixated at going in one direction," Chessy pointed out. "Getting him to change direction isn't going to be easy."
"Perhaps one of us should slow him down as the other go back to get help," Martin suggested.
Before Chessy could respond, Seth pointed while uttering delightfully, "There! There he is!"
As Chessy and Martin looked, Seth took off running. At first, Chessy or Martin couldn't see a dog, but almost as if materializing before their eyes, a malamute was present and Seth ran up to it.
"Okay… is it me or did that dog just suddenly appear there?" Chessy asked.
"I… I was wondering the same thing," Martin said. "I guess, we could've overlooked him."
"We had to have," Chessy agreed while shaking it off.
Seth and Jack greeted each other as a young boy and his dog would. Chessy and Martin stepped up to them before Martin said, "We should get you home now."
"Okay," Seth finally agreed with a nod. "Come, Jack."
Seth and Jack led the way, which was in a slightly different direction than how they had come, and after walking for two hours, Seth stopped and scanned the area in a couple of directions.
"What is it?" Chessy asked.
Without answering Chessy, Seth walked again with a slight course change before saying, "This way."
As Chessy and Martin continued to follow Seth, Chessy told Martin, "I'm officially lost. I have no idea where our picnic site or the car is."
"Perhaps, Seth can remember where we met," Martin suggested.
"Let's hope so."
Within another fifteen minutes, Seth led Chessy and Martin down a dirt road to a ranch style house. The house was well kept with a fresh coat of paint.
A woman, in her late twenties, opened the door as they were approaching it. Before Chessy, Martin or Seth could say anything, the woman uttered, "Seth! You're dad is out looking for you. Where have you been?!"
"Jack got loose and took off. I had to find him."
"Go to your room! You're grounded!"
"Fine," Seth impolitely uttered. "Come, Jack."
As Seth and Jack were entering the house, Chessy said, "You must be Mrs. White-Cloud."
"You two can call me Janis. What are you're names."
"I'm Chessy, and he's Martin."
"You two have a new-love aura about you," Janis pointed out. "It burns bright and strong."
"Really?" Chessy uttered in a slightly surprised tone. "You… you're a psychic?"
"Not often, but sometimes, I see things or get feelings about certain things, and with you two it's coming in clear and bright," Janis pointed out. "Anyway, I hope my son didn't ruin your date."
"It's fine," Chessy said.
"We just wanted to make sure that your son got home safely," Martin added.
Janis nodded before saying, "The electricity is out, so there's no food to offer you… except for the apples that are on the apple tree in back."
"Why is your electricity out?" Martin quickly asked.
"We just recently moved here and there was a misunderstanding as to when it was supposed to have been turned on," Janis said. "My husband and I are trying to get it straighten out. Meanwhile, we're eating fast food."
"Seth said that he had a younger sister," Chessy said almost as a question.
Janis again nodded before answering with, "Valerie is staying somewhere where there are food and utilities. Anyway, you two are welcome to come in."
Martin gestured towards the road while saying, "We probably should get back to our car." Martin then scanned the area near the dirt road. "Of course I have no clue as to which direction that is."
"Kyle, my husband, will most likely check in before too long about if Seth had showed up. When he does, he can take you two to your car."
"Alright," Chessy agreed.
"Those apples? Are they ripe?" Martin asked.
"Yeah. Go help yourselves to as many as you want," Janis said.
"I'll go and grab a few apples for us," Martin told Chessy.
Chessy nodded while saying, "Okay. I'll be with Janis." Martin nodded before he walked away. After Chessy and Janis stepped inside, Chessy admired the front room. "You have a pretty house… from what I can see of it that is."
"Would you like a tour?"
Chessy slightly hesitated before nodding and saying, "Sure."
Chessy followed Janis around the house and during the tour of the master bedroom, Chessy noticed a photograph of Janis at her current age, Seth at his current age, a man and a little girl that looked to be a few months old. While looking at the portrait, she noticed that the little girl had a heart shaped birthmark on the left side of the neck just below the jaw.
Chessy gestured towards the photograph while asking, "Are they Kyle and Valerie?"
"Yes," Janis said. "That photo was taken just before we moved here."
Janis continued with the tour and as they were returning to the living room, Martin was coming in with a few apples.
As the minutes passed, Chessy and Martin ate the apples as the three sat in the living while having a casual conversation.
After an hour, Martin asked, "At what time will your husband come home?"
"My husband can be a determined man," Janis said. "If he believes that Seth is still out there, he can be out there all night."
"Like father, like son," Martin said. Janis gave Martin a curious look. "Seth was determined to find Jack."
"Yes," Janis sullenly agreed. "Seth can be stubborn and unfortunately, he gets it from me as well as his dad."
"A double dose of stubbornness," Chessy said. "I know very well how that can be."
Janis grinned before saying, "Anyway, it will be sunset soon and we will lose the sunlight. So you two are welcome to stay the night. If Kyle comes in during the night, then he can take you two to your car; otherwise you will have to wait until the morning comes."
"Right," Chessy and Martin said.
Chessy, Martin and Janis talked until the sun began to fade away, and before the sun faded completely Janis showed Chessy and Martin the spare bedroom. The window faced east, and the curtain and window were opened.
As they stepped into the bedroom, Chessy and Martin saw that the bed was a full size bed without any sheets or pillows.
Before Chessy or Martin could ask about the sheets and pillows, Janis said, "Kyle and I used our sheets to wrap things in when we moved, so they're filthy. The pillows are filthy too, and without electricity I can't run the washer and dryer."
"It's fine," Chessy assured her. "I can think of a way for Martin and me to stay warm."
"Yes," Martin agreed while trying to hide a pleasant grin.
Janis amusingly grinned before saying, "Okay. I'll see you two later and goodnight."
Janis shut the door and as her footsteps faded as she walked away, Chessy and Martin prepared themselves for bed.
Once Chessy and Martin got into bed, they cuddled. Chessy was facing away from Martin and after a couple of minutes Martin gently and arousingly rubbed Chessy's bare skin with his hand. Within seconds of Martin gently rubbing Chessy's skin, Chessy turned towards Martin and pressed her lips against his. The kiss lasted for several seconds that turned into foreplay. The foreplay lasted for several minutes before turning into sexual intercourse that lasted several more minutes.
Minutes after sunrise, the local sheriff Valerie Collins stopped her police cruiser behind Chessy's vehicle. Valerie was thirty-three years old. She had russet skin and her black hair was pulled back into a ponytail. A heart shaped birthmark on the left side of her neck just below the jaw was visible. An assortment of flowers was in the passenger seat of the cruiser.
Valerie stared curiously at the vehicle in front of her for a brief moment before getting on the radio and running a check of the license plate. When the information came back, Valerie got out of her police cruiser with the assorted flowers and walked into the woods.
When Valerie came to the clearly, the red plaid blanket and the untouched food items immediately caught her eye. She then scanned the area while looking for the owners to the blanket and food items. After being satisfied that the owners to the items weren't in the general vicinity, she continued to the tree that was broken and lying across the ground.
She laid the flowers on the ground next to where Chessy and Martin had found Seth weeping. She straightened up again before she said, "I'm here big brother. It's been another year already. Nothing had changed much since last year… except for Tommy. He's twelve now and he no longer worries about getting cooties from girls. In fact, I found him and one of his friends looking at one of those Victoria's Secret magazines. Katie will be ten soon so she will be liking boys in a couple years. As to how protective Tommy can be of Katie and me being the sheriff, Katie might have a problem with finding a boy brave enough to ask her out though."
Valerie looked around. The winds were a dull breeze. A curious expression came across her face, before she continued with, "Seth? Are you here?" Valerie continued to curiously look around her. "Seth? Seth, things have changed since last year, haven't they? You're no longer here. Mmm. I wonder."
Valerie turned and walked in the direction of her police cruiser and Chessy's vehicle.
At the house, the morning sun had awakened Chessy and Martin. While fully dressed, the two where lying in bed while cuddling for several minutes before they heard a gentle knock on the door.
"Come in," Chessy called out.
The door opened and Janis took one stepped into the room.
"Good morning, Janis," Chessy and Martin told her.
Janis grinned before she told them, "Good morning you two." Janis then gestured behind her before she continued to say, "Your ride will be here in a minute."
"Your husband is on his way?" Martin asked as he and Chessy went to get up.
"No. He stayed gone all night."
Chessy gave Janis a curious look before saying uncertainly, "Okay."
"Once you two leave here, we won't meet again, and I wish you two the most happiness that a couple could hope for," Janis told them.
"Thanks," Martin said.
"Yes, thanks, and I'm sure we will meet again," Chessy added.
Janis grinned before saying, "I'm a psychic. Remember?" Chessy grinned while giving Janis a look as if she didn't know where Janis was going with her words. "In this life, I know that we won't meet again."
"I sure hope that your psychic intuition is wrong," Chessy said.
"Yes, I can see in your heart that you do," Janis said. "Anyway, your ride is actually driving up as we speak."
"Okay, and I will attempt to get back this way," Chessy said. With an expression on her face as if she was holding onto an amused secret, Janis just nodded. "Take care."
"Good day," Martin said.
"Good day," Janis echoed.
"Oh and say bye to Seth for me," Chessy added,
"I will," Janis said before Chessy and Martin went to greet the driver of their ride.
As Chessy and Martin were stepping out of the house Valerie was pulling up in her police cruiser.
"A police car is our ride," Chessy questioned as Valerie was opening her car door to step out.
"I guess we should go and talk with…" Martin got out before noticing that it was a woman, "her."
Valerie stood near the driver's door while watching Chessy and Martin as they walked towards her. When the two were a few feet away, Valerie said, "If you two are here looking to buy, the house isn't for sale."
"Buy? No we aren't here to buy," Chessy said as she noticed the birthmark on Valerie's neck. "You have the exact same birthmark as Janis's baby daughter."
"What did you just say?!" Valerie demanded.
Chessy went to face the house again as she said, "You and her daughter…" Chessy stopped talking when she caught sight of the house again; however, this time the house appeared neglected for years. "Wait… wha… what happened to the house?"
Martin looked at the house before uttering, "Good lord! This wasn't how the house looked yesterday."
"What do you mean that this isn't how the house looked yesterday?" Valerie quickly asked.
"Yesterday the house didn't look neglected as it does now," Martin said.
"Maybe Janis can explain it," Chessy suggested as she moved towards the house.
"Where are you going?" Valerie demanded.
"To speak to Janis," Chessy said as she continued towards the house. Martin followed closely behind.
"I assure you that there's no one… alive anyway in that that house," Valerie said as she also followed.
"Janis and her son Seth are in there," Chessy insisted.
"Seth?!" Valerie confusingly echoed. "Ma'am, please stop."
"I'm Chessy," she quickly corrected as she continued on.
"Chessy?" Valerie echoed confusingly. "Chessy Sullivan?"
"How do you know my name?" Chessy asked as she entered the house followed by Martin.
"I ran the license plate on your vehicle," Valerie said while following Martin in. "Is that your picnic set-up out in the clearing?"
Chessy stopped in her tracks, and while staring at the dusty and severely dilapidated furniture, she demanded, "What's going on?!" She then yelled out, "Janis! Seth!"
A sound of something hitting the floor was heard that came from the master bedroom.
Valerie glanced towards the master bedroom while wondering aloud, "What was that?"
"Janis! Seth!" Chessy called out again as Valerie went to investigate.
As Valerie stepped into the bedroom, Chessy and Martin followed. The bedroom furniture was also severely dilapidated and covered with a thick coat of dust. As Valerie looked around, she saw what had hit the floor, which was the family photograph that Chessy was admiring the night before.
As Valerie picked up the photograph, Chessy said, "That's the picture of Janis, Kyle, Seth and Valerie. Officer, you have the exact birthmark as Valerie."
Valerie pointed to a patch on her uniform while saying, "I'm a sheriff; not an officer and the reason that I have the exact same birthmark is because the girl in the photo is me."
"You're Valerie White-Cloud?" Martin questioned.
"I am, except for the past thirteen year, I've been Valerie Collins… well currently Sheriff Valerie Collins to be more precise."
"You're not six months old," Chessy uttered.
"Not for the past thirty-three years," Valerie said.
"Okay, I'm very confused," Chessy uttered.
"You two actually saw my brother Seth and my mom Janis?" Valerie asked.
"Yes," Chessy and Martin said.
"And this house… well it had no electricity, but the house and the furniture were in much better condition," Martin added.
"What's going on?" Chessy demanded to know.
"Tell me how you happen to be here and then I might be able to tell you what's going on," Valerie prompted.
"Okay, well, the picnic set-up that you recently asked about is ours," Martin said.
"And just after sitting on the ground, Martin and I heard weeping," Chessy said. "When we went to find the source, we saw Seth crying while sitting on a tree that was broken and lying across the ground."
"You actually saw Seth?" Valerie quickly asked. "There and crying?"
"We did," Martin said. "He was crying over Jack, his lost dog." Valerie showed a confused expression across her face. "So we helped him find Jack, and once we did find his dog we all came back here."
"Seth, Jack was why you wouldn't move on during these past thirty-three years, and mom, you wouldn't go without Seth," Valerie said as if things were finally making sense.
"Okay, I'm even more confused," Chessy said.
"Let me fill you in on what you don't know," Valerie began. "Thirty-three years ago, Seth's dog Jack had gotten loose and ran off… so I was told by my dad anyway. Anyway, Seth went looking for Jack. On the exact same day and not too far from here, someone's illegally kept lions had escaped their pen…"
"Oh god!" Chessy uttered while horror struck.
"Yes, I think you guessed it," Valerie said. "Seth was killed by the lions. The spot where his remains were found was where you had met his spirit. Jack or even Jack's remains were never found. My mom's health was poor from carrying me. In fact, Seth's labor was extremely hard on my mom and afterwards, the doctors insisted that she couldn't get pregnant again, but she did with me, and by carrying me it took its toll on my mom's health. The news of Seth's death was more than my mom could bear, and her heart failed within two days. Yesterday was the thirty-third anniversary of Seth's death, and tomorrow will be the thirty-third anniversary of my mom's death."
"So what we were seeing last night were ghosts?" Chessy asked.
"Yes," Valerie confirmed. "In fact, dad and I had to move out because of my mom's weeping spirit…"
"You could hear her?" Martin asked; however, his question almost came out sounding like an observation.
"I could hear her and Seth's weeping… or other spirits as they weep for as that matters along with sensing their presence, but I can't see them or hear them speak. When we left the house, my dad left everything; the furniture, the knickknacks, the pictures…"
"Why leave everything?" Chessy asked.
"Spirits can attach themselves to pretty much anything they want, and my dad wasn't sure what my mom's spirit was attached to."
"Sheriff Collins, I have never seen a ghost before and last night I had seen two of them," Chessy pointed out.
"And the same goes with me," Martin added.
"For whatever reason, you two were chosen… by either Seth or my mom," Valerie explained.
"Seth chose us," Chessy guessed. "He must've known that we would help him find Jack… or Jack's spirit."
"That's a reasonable assumption," Valerie said.
"But I don't understand how we saw the house as it was thirty-three years ago," Chessy continued.
"Spirits can make you see what they want you to see and most likely my mom wanted you to see the house as it was back then," Valerie again explained.
"Fascinating," Martin said.
"You two had helped Seth to complete an unfinished task, and as a result, Seth's and my mom's spirits have moved on to where they belong. Thank you."
"Are you sure that they had moved on?" Chessy asked.
Valerie grinned and nodded before saying, "I'm sure." Valerie slightly held up the photograph. "I had always wanted this photo and when it fell, it was my mom telling me that I can finally have it… plus I don't feel any spirits in the house anymore. Anyway, since you two didn't get a chance to eat your picnic food, you two must be starving…"
"We had apples from the tree out back," Martin said. "So we're not as hungry as you think."
"There hasn't been an apple tree out back for ten years," Valerie informed.
"But…" Martin got out before shaking it off. "My appetite feels oddly satisfied for eating phantom apples."
Valerie amusingly grinned before saying, "Let me make it up to both of you. Let me buy you two breakfast."
"Alright," Chessy agreed.
"Alright," Martin quickly echoed.
"Oh, uh, no offence, Sheriff Collins, but I hope that I won't be meeting your dad's spirit… at least not anytime soon," Chessy said.
Valerie again amusingly grinned before saying, "You won't, and I know this because he's alive and living at a nearby nursing home."
"In that photo, your dad doesn't look all that old," Chessy pointed out. "Thirty-three years aged him that much?"
"He's not in the home because of his age," Valerie began. "He was the sheriff in this town ten years ago, and during one of his calls… his final call in fact, he was shot in the head with a twenty-two. The doctor was able to remove the bullet, but it had left him with severe memory problems. In fact, around this time of the year, he tries to leave the nursing home so he can go out to find Seth."
"I'm sorry," Chessy sympathetically said.
"You're not the one who fired the gun," Valerie said.
"Still," Chessy sympathetically said.
Valerie gave an understanding nod before gesturing towards the door and asking, "Shall we?"
"We shall," Chessy said with a grin before the three left the house.
Present day, after Eleanor heard Chessy and Martin's first date story, she said, "Okay that story tops all of ours."
"Why didn't you two tell us that story before now?" Annie quickly demanded to know.
"Although it happened, our experience sounds like an unbelievable ghost story," Martin said.
"So you two didn't even get to have your picnic," Hallie said.
"Actually, after Valerie bought us breakfast, we did a few things in the town that we were in and by lunchtime, we decided to buy some more food and have that picnic," Chessy said.
"Cool," Hallie said.
"It's not as fascinating as the story I just heard, but I had a ghostly encounter myself," Jenny said before going into her ghost story.
The End
