Set just after the passing of Mr & Mrs Pontipee. Ages (approximate): Adam (21), Ben (19), Caleb (16), Daniel & Ephraim (13) Frankincense (9), and Gideon (7).

The sun was rising over a quiet mountainside, bathing a farmstead in a warm glow. The chickens groused sleepily in their pen, waiting to be let out into the crisp spring air, and the cows began to grumble for their morning's milking.

In the middle of the yard a horse had been harnessed to a small carriage, a rickety build with a black canopy and hard leather seats. A small boy stood beside it, holding the reigns as both he and the horse blew out steamy breaths.

A door slammed inside the farmhouse and the sound of raised voices could be heard. The boy pressed his lips together at a particularly shrill comment but stood to attention as the front door banged open, letting out a short, stout lady, followed closely by a young man with blond curly hair and a beard to match.

'Please Aunt Ez,' the man said, even as he helped the woman to carry the last of her many belongings to the carriage. 'I know they can be a mite rambunctious-'

'Rambunctious!?' the woman demanded shrilly. Her greying hair was drawn back into a severe knot underneath a prim black hat which, at one point in time, had sported a rather magnificent ostrich feather, only a few inches of which were left upon it. 'Adam Pontipee those brothers of yours are plain wicked! This is the last straw and I mean it!'

'They will apologise,' Adam said, his jaw setting tightly at the woman's comment for he loved his brothers more than anything in the world and definitely more than his overbearingly proper Aunt Esmeralda. 'It was just a practical joke-'

'I have had quite enough of those... those ruffians and their practical jokes,' Aunt Esmeralda snapped. 'Thank you, Gideon,' she said to the boy holding the reigns, snatching them from the young boy and putting a foot upon the step. Her shrill denouncement of the Pontipee brothers did not stop as Adam came forward, helping the woman struggle into the driving seat.

'Lord help me, Adam Pontipee,' the woman said, bustling herself into a comfortable position on the chair – a seemingly impossible task on such a hard surface - 'I came here to help you after the accident of your dear mother and my poor brother; may they rest in peace. But I can stand this treatment no longer!'

'I'm sorry, Aunt Ez,' Adam said but blanched at the stern look he received. Gideon had scurried up to his brother's side and now huddled in, half hidden behind Adam's leg as he stared up at the argument with wide eyes. From the doorway five other faces could be seen, each trying to hide the expression of glee behind solemn faces.

'You listen well, Adam Pontipee,' Aunt Esmeralda said, gathering her reigns and then wagging a finger at him and the rest of his brood. 'Carry on down this road and you will raise nothing but a pack of wildmen. I dread what your poor mother would think if she could see you now. You shape up, all of you, or no woman will touch you, nor decent gentleman have anything to do with you, mark my words!'

With that their Aunt cracked her reigns and the carriage shot forwards, causing her to lurch back a bit and catch her hat. As the horse trotted off down the mountain road five boys emerged from the house to see it off. When she was far enough away but definitely not out of earshot, their poker faces split into triumphant grins and they broke into a cheer.

'Enough!' Adam barked, and they stopped, their expressions changing from happy to wary as they saw their eldest brother's knitted brows and anger-flushed cheeks.

'Aw Adam you wanted that ol' witch gone as much as we did,' Ephraim said as Caleb and Daniel nodded earnestly.

'Yeah, Adam,' Ben said, 'and it sure was funny hearing Aunt E' scream like that, it sure taught her a lesson!' The rest of the Pontipee boys laughed but Adam's face remained stony.

'You think so?' he asked in a dangerous voice which sobered them all. 'She may have been rude and miserable but she was trying to help us. As far as I see it that poor woman got a heck of a lot more than she deserved. Why I believe all of you had a turn at tormenting her, saving Gideon of course.'

Even as he said it there was a high pitched shriek from the departing carriage. As the rest of the boys stared over in surprise Gideon looked up with wide blue eyes under thick blonde lashes at his oldest brother. 'Frogs,' he said quietly, 'in her handbag.'

The five younger Pontipee's broke down into fits of giggles as Adam dashed off toward the carriage.

~7B47B~

'Boys! You line up here right now!' Adam Pontipee's voice bellowed through the farmhouse, making the windows rattle and dust fall from the ceiling beams. The eldest brother of the Pontipee clan was angry. Worse than angry. Furious in fact. From their respective hiding places the younger brothers glanced at one another with worried eyes or scrunched up their faces in distaste. But there was nowhere to run and none had eaten breakfast yet, and now their big brother stood in between them and the kitchen. Furious.

Slowly they slid from their hiding holes, slinking forwards reluctantly and avoiding the eldest's glaring gaze. Caleb came last, leading Gideon by the hand. The littlest Pontipee kept his head lowered and his lips pressed together; of all of them he knew what his big brother was capable of and he was most likely to expect for his part in the morning's work; both Adam and their late father had taken him to task at one time or another for his misdeeds.

The others however were much more confident in their bearing; sure, Adam was mighty peeved and they'd probably have to stand through a lecture – Adam had always been good at the stern glare and imposing word approach, even before fate had turned him into the family patriarch – but there was little else to worry them. Even Frank, only a few years older than Gideon, felt assured in his grand old age of nine that he was too old for any sort of physical response from his older brother.

They were all about to be sorely disappointed.

Adam crossed his arms over his barrel chest, chin raised high but brow furrowed in dark disapproval. He took a deep suck of air into his lungs and then began.

He started with his shock at their manners toward their aunt when she had first arrived barely a week ago, announcing to them all the she would take up the responsibility of their care now that her son and his wife were departed. That had raised the boys' danders immediately. It had taken less than that afternoon for their voices to lose their civil tones and the forced smiles to become sullen sulks. Then the pranking had begun. Nothing too big at first, just little things like over salting her porridge and adding an extra scratchy lining to her bed covers – she had taken their parent's room of course, the only other one than their dorm-style habitation; another black mark against her so soon after their loss. Then some pesky wind had mysteriously gathered up her laundry from the drying line, depositing it in the pig pen almost all the way across the farm. It had taken Adam quite some effort to calm his aunt when she discovered her prize hat on the head of the resident billy-goat, the feather all but completely chewed off. The whole thing had culminated that past evening when the lady retired to bed, only to wake to a raccoon scampering next to her. Screaming enough to wake her late brother, Aunt Ez had leapt from the bed, flinging open the door to their late-parents' room. The resulting crash, splash and roar of dismay that followed had set the boys listening in their room into gales of laughter, even as Adam sprang up to see what was amiss. And this time there was no excusing what was happening as a freak accident, all else could have been forgiven as unfortunate happenstance but the wind did not rest pails of ice-water atop bedroom doors. Adam still marvelled that his brothers had managed the feat – whomever it may have been – climbing into the room, setting the trap, leaving the raccoon (which would have had to be caught in the first place!), and getting back into his own bed without being discovered. Adam secretly admired his brothers' their courage and imagination, but outwardly he had to disapprove. He was the eldest now and he had to set an example for his younger siblings to follow.

So after the list of transgressions, which had the boys smirking and pressing their lips together to try and hide their laughter, Adam said:

'And just think what ma would have thought.'

That wiped the smiles from their eyes.

Adam drew breath, seeing them growing uncomfortable under his stern gaze and knowing that they needed to hear this clearly.

'Really, what Aunt Ez said had some truth in it,' he said soberly. 'We all of us disgraced ourselves with that display of wickedness and disgraced ma and pa too.'

Ben's head shot up, his eyes full of remorse but also shooting a look at the younger boys, who had drawn little gasps at the words. 'Now really it weren't all that bad, big brother,' he tried to say.

'We acted like plain animals,' Adam said sternly, brooking no argument. 'She was a guest in our house and we treated her badly, it was downright unchristian!'

'But you didn't do anything wrong, Adam,' Gideon whispered, shooting his brother a tear-filled look.

Adam's face softened only a little but he gave his head a shake as he reached forwards and patted the boy's strawberry-blonde curls. 'I might not have taken part in the pranking, Gid, but I didn't stop it either. This wouldn't have happened if I hadn't have stopped the first little pranks. What did ma always say?'

'Little sins lead to big sins,' Gideon rattled off with ease. Their mother had been a good, god-fearing woman and she had raised her sons well. One would have had to, with seven of them to deal with! But they had disgraced her with their shameful behaviour and now, as they contemplated this, Adam's words hitting home to all of them, the first twangs of remorse began to show.

'Aw, Adam!' Frank finally burst. 'We didn't mean to be so wicked, it's just we couldn't stand that ol' bag!'

Adam nodded in understanding. 'I know, Frank. But I recon that if ma were around then she would have found some other way of getting Aunt Ez to leave. A much more civilised way.'

They all winced at that, cheeks burning and eyes downcast.

Gideon sniffed back a sob, the twins, Ephraim and Daniel, taking a shoulder each to wrap their arms around. 'You gonna tan us, Adam?' he asked, the tears gathering on his lashes like morning dew on grass.

Frank snorted at the idea, folding his arms, the hands resting against the side of his chest in a defensive hug. 'Adam ain't gonna do no such thing, Gid,' he said with all the assurety of youth.

Caleb looked quietly into Adam's eyes. 'Are you, Adam?' he asked softly.

'He cain't tan you or Ben, you're too old!' Ephraim said, shocked at the idea.

'You saying that we're not?' his twin asked in horror.

And then all their attention became fixed on their older brother and the farmhouse was still as they waited for his decision.